Exoplanet Transit Animations

  • Released Monday, August 6th, 2018
  • Updated Wednesday, May 3rd, 2023 at 1:46PM
  • ID: 13022

When a planet passes directly between a star and its observer, it dims the star's light by a measurable amount. Larger planets block more light. This animation compares two planets of different sizes and shows the changes in the light curves.

When a planet passes directly between a star and its observer, it dims the star's light by a measurable amount. Light curves get complicated when more planets are transiting a star. The combined light curves can give us the same information as a single one, it just takes more work from astronomers to pick out each planet in the data.

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NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory


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