The ExoClock Project: An open integrated platform to monitor the exoplanet ephemerides of the Ariel space mission – ERIM 2023 Outreach

Conveners: Anastasia Kokori, Florence Libotte

The ExoClock Project (www.exoclock.space) is an open, integrated, and interactive platform, designed to maintain the ephemerides accuracy of the Ariel targets. Ariel is ESA’s medium class space mission prepared for launch in 2029. The main aim of the mission is to characterise a large number of exoplanets to better understand their nature.

ExoClock aims to provide transit mid-time predictions for Ariel by collecting all currently available data (literature observations, observations conducted for other purposes, both from ground and space) and by efficiently planning dedicated efforts to follow-up the Ariel targets. ExoClock is open to
contributions from a variety of audiences professional, amateur astronomers, university students and industry partners aiming to make the best use of all available resources towards delivering a verified list of ephemerides for the Ariel targets before the launch of the mission.

During the first part of the session, the organisation and the current status of the ExoClock project will be presented. In addition, the strategies that are used to enable participation will be presented. Finally, the results will be presented from almost four years of operation of the project. 

During the second part of the project, the tools for scheduling, observing and analysing a transit observation will be demonstrated in detail. In particular, we will see:

• How to use the ExoClock website to plan an exoplanet observation
• How to observe an exoplanet (main guidelines for a successful result)
• How to analyse the results of the
  During the last part we will discuss possibilities to get involved in the ExoClock
  project (as a professional observatory, as an amateur Astronomer, as a school or
  just as a citizen scientist).

For more details on outreach activities at ERIM, go to the ERIM programme and look out for sessions tagged in orange.

Find out about the other ERIM 2023 programme tracks: