Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

Hi, I have a project involving exoplanets and exomoons and I need to be able to plot a light curve of stars for this project - what camera would be sufficient for this - could I hold an iPhone, insta360 camera or GoPro up to the eyepiece for the datapoints or would I need something stronger?
Thank You,
GoelV

Hi,

This is not my area of expertise but I checked with someone who has more experience with astronomy. They said "Generally, you’re looking for a few% or less dip in the light curve, and you have to do it repeatedly to verify that you are seeing something real. In short, no, you cannot hold ANY camera up to the eyepiece and expect to acquire the required data." If you have not already, I would recommend checking out these projects on our site, they might help:

https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... -exoplanet

https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... photometry

Thanks,

Ben