Exoplanet Transit Simulation

Astronomers detect distant exoplanets using the transit method: when a planet's orbit carries it directly between its star and an observer, it blocks a tiny fraction of the star's light, producing a small, periodic dip in brightness. The depth of that dip reveals the planet's size relative to its star (a bigger planet blocks more light), while the time between dips reveals the orbital period. In this simulation, watch the glowing star on the left dim slightly and the light-curve graph below trace a shallow notch each time the dark planet sweeps across the near side of the star.
Drag to rotate • Scroll to zoom

Brightness: 100.0%
Status: --
FPS: --
Orbital angle: --
Orbital period: --
Elapsed time: --
Transit depth: --

Transit Controls

Orbital speed: 1.0x Planet size: 1.1 Orbit radius: 1.0x Pause

Live Brightness / Light-Curve Readout