Uploaded October 2021 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Originally broadcast on Aug 28, 2021, this webinar first features a discussion with Dr. Gibor Basri (UCBerkeley), "Information and Illusions in Starspot Light Curves." Some stars' brightness variations are due to the passage of starspots over the visible hemisphere as stars rotate. In the past 15 years, we have gathered vastly better, longer, and more numerous light curves from space, especially from the Kepler mission. Stars like the Sun show such chaotic light curves that it is hard to infer even the rotation periods. In (more variable) stars that show clear periods, most light curves are deceptively simple, with one or two dips per stellar rotation. This simplicity is mostly illusory; the true spot distributions can be quite complicated. That presents problems to making astrophysical conclusions about the starspots. Dr. Basri discusses what we are learning and how stellar variability changes as a function of stellar mass and age.
Second, Ana Parra discusses her own "Journey into Exoplanet Transit Analysis." How did she go from not knowing anything about Exoplanets (planets that exist outside our Solar System) to wanting to record an Exoplanet transit with my first telescope? Her journey began with an Astronomy 101 course, a few amazing mentors, and an opportunity to do exoplanet transit research. Learning the history of Exoplanets was the jumping point to analyzing exoplanet transits with the TESS Follow-up Observing Program Sub-Group 1, mentoring Boyce-Astro students interested in Exoplanet research, and reaching out to her fellow AAVSO ambassadors for support in purchasing and operating my very first telescope. She discusses how Exoplanets were discovered, how we benefited from Exoplanet research, and her involvement in Exoplanet transit research. She also shares how important it is to have mentors and to become a mentor.
Check out AAVSO and how you can make a valuable contribution to science by visiting us at aavso.org (our Exoplanet Observing Section is at aavso.org/exoplanet-section)
Originally broadcast on Aug 28, 2021, this webinar first features a discussion with Dr. Gibor Basri (UCBerkeley), "Information and Illusions in Starspot Light Curves." Some stars' brightness variations are due to the passage of starspots over the visible hemisphere as stars rotate. In the past 15 years, we have gathered vastly better, longer, and more numerous light curves from space, especially from the Kepler mission. Stars like the Sun show such chaotic light curves that it is hard to infer even the rotation periods. In (more variable) stars that show clear periods, most light curves are deceptively simple, with one or two dips per stellar rotation. This simplicity is mostly illusory; the true spot distributions can be quite complicated. That presents problems to making astrophysical conclusions about the starspots. Dr. Basri discusses what we are learning and how stellar variability changes as a function of stellar mass and age.
Second, Ana Parra discusses her own "Journey into Exoplanet Transit Analysis." How did she go from not knowing anything about Exoplanets (planets that exist outside our Solar System) to wanting to record an Exoplanet transit with my first telescope? Her journey began with an Astronomy 101 course, a few amazing mentors, and an opportunity to do exoplanet transit research. Learning the history of Exoplanets was the jumping point to analyzing exoplanet transits with the TESS Follow-up Observing Program Sub-Group 1, mentoring Boyce-Astro students interested in Exoplanet research, and reaching out to her fellow AAVSO ambassadors for support in purchasing and operating my very first telescope. She discusses how Exoplanets were discovered, how we benefited from Exoplanet research, and her involvement in Exoplanet transit research. She also shares how important it is to have mentors and to become a mentor.
Check out AAVSO and how you can make a valuable contribution to science by visiting us at aavso.org (our Exoplanet Observing Section is at aavso.org/exoplanet-section)
