Transit Photometry as an Exoplanet Discovery Method

Understand

Photometry with the transit method has arguably been the most successful exoplanet discovery method to date.

• A short overview about the rise of that method to its present status is given.
• The method's strength is the rich set of parameters that can be obtained from transiting planets, in particular in combination with radial velocity observations; the basic principles of these parameters are given, with explicit formulations for the transit detection probability and the times of transit epochs in comparison to radial velocity epochs.
• The transit method has however also drawbacks, which are the low probability of properly aligned planet systems and the presence of astrophysical phenomena that may mimic transits and give rise to false detection positives.