Date:
Thursday, July 27, 2017, 11:00am to 12:00pm
Location:
Pratt
"Using Image Subtraction to Search for Planets and Variables in Crowded Stellar Fields"
Abstract: Open clusters and globular clusters serve as useful astrophysical laboratories, containing an assemblage of coeval stars sharing similar distances and chemical compositions. These stellar regions are densely packed, adding challenges to the search for transiting planets and variable stars within such fields. The major challenge is due to the photometric blending of light from neighboring stars, which makes it difficult to discern the periodic dips in light curves that serve as the characteristic signature of transiting planets and stellar variables. In order to address this concern, we devised an image subtraction data reduction method that minimizes the blending of light and produces state-of-the-art, high signal-to-noise light curves. My presentation will describe this method, how we have made steps to automate it, and the results of applying this technique to K2 stellar fields.