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, $\cos i$ is uniform on $[0,1]$. A transit requires $a|\cos i|<R_{\star }+R_p$, soFor a dark planet, a uniformly bright stellar disk and negligible dilution, the transit exoplanet transit depth is $\boxed{\delta \simeq (R_p/R_{\star }{)}^2}$. For $R_{\star }/a\ll 1$, a small planet and impact parameter $b=a\cos i/R_{\star }$,The central-transit result sets $b=0$. A first-to-fourth-contact duration retaining planet size replaces $\sqrt{1-b^2}$ by $\sqrt{(1+R_p/R_{\star }{)}^2-b^2}$ and includes the exact projected-speed geometry when needed. Eccentricity, limb darkening and grazing geometry modify these expressions.