XO-2b is a hot Jupiter, which completes one orbit around its parent star every 2.6 days. It orbits 3.4 million miles from the star, which is closer than the Parker Solar Probe will get to our Sun (3.8 million miles). The graph shows the brightness of the star over time. As the planet passes in front of the star, it blocks some of the light, and see can detect this as a dip in brightness from the parent star. This is the same method used to detect most of the exoplanets we have found so far.
This is my first successful attempt at exoplanet photometry. I tried this a few nights ago, but it was on a magnitude 15 star (XO-2 is mag 11) and did not get any results. I think it's amazing that with amateur equipment one can detect planets around other stars. More detailed information info on the exoplanet (including predictions of future transits) can be found on [The Exoplanet Transit Database](
http://var2.astro.cz/ETD/etd.php?STARNAME=XO-2&PLANET=b). Captured on January 29th, 2019 from a Bortle 7 zone.
**Equipment:**
* TPO 6" F/4 Imaging Newtonian
* Orion Sirius EQ-G
* ZWO ASI1600MM-Pro
* ZWO EFW 8x1.25"/31mm
* Astronomik LRGB Filters- 31mm Mounted
* Agena 50mm Deluxe Straight-Through Guide Scope
* ZWO ASI-120MC for guiding
* Deep Sky Dad Autofocuser
**Acquisition:** over the course of 3 hours 47 minutes (Camera at Unity Gain, -20°C)
* Red- 420x30"
* Darks- 30
**Capture Software:**
* EQMod mount control. Captured using [N.I.N.A.](
https://bitbucket.org/Isbeorn/nina/overview) and PHD2 for guiding ~~and dithering.~~
**Processing:**
* Images calibrated with darks in PixInsight.
* Aperture photometry calculated and plot made in AstroImageJ
* Single calibrated frame autostretched and annotated in PI
* Final image assembled in photoshop.
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