Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-short-options-paper-shared-by-parts-a-and-b-of-the-physics-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2019/s30/1/a/solution

A exoplanet transit occurs when a planet crosses the projected stellar disk and blocks some stellar flux. For a circular orbit with isotropically distributed angular-momentum directions, is uniform on . A transit requires , so
For a dark planet, a uniformly bright stellar disk and negligible dilution, the transit exoplanet transit depth is . For , a small planet and impact parameter ,
The central-transit result sets . A first-to-fourth-contact duration retaining planet size replaces by and includes the exact projected-speed geometry when needed. Eccentricity, limb darkening and grazing geometry modify these expressions.

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