The Transit Method

Tiny shadows

An interactive lesson with 6 steps, about 5 minutes: you predict, drag and solve, with instant feedback on every answer. It runs in your browser and needs JavaScript.

What you’ll learn

• Transit dip $\approx (R_{\text{planet}}/R_{\text{star}})^2$.
• Jupiter blocks about 1% of the Sun. Earth blocks about 0.008%.
• Transits only work for orbits lined up edge-on to us.

Steps

1. Mini eclipses
2. Fit the light curve
3. Grazing transits
4. Transit odds
5. Working backwards
6. Another Earth