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/c/iii/solution

As the star expands onto the red giant branch, a planet of fixed radius produces a shallower exoplanet transit, . For a fixed circular orbit and an approximately central chord, duration grows approximately as , and transit probability also rises. At fixed orbital inclination the impact parameter in stellar-radius units decreases, further changing the chord. These statements neglect orbital evolution, stellar mass loss, tidal effects and eventual engulfment, all of which can matter for a very close planet.

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