Testing the Limits: Characterizing the Ability of the KTPO Telescope to Observe Exoplanetary Transits

Salt Lake Community College Westpointe Campus, Salt Lake City, UT

The goal of this project is to characterize the ability of the Keith Terry Palen Observatory (KTPO) to be able to reliably detect exoplanets. The KTPO telescope has already been shown to be excellent at taking data of other time series events, and being able to take data of a wider variety of targets will allow the telescope to have a wider research draw. Additionally, the methodology utilized in characterizing the telescope’s capabilities for this particular kind of event can be expanded to allow for more robust criterion regarding choosing targets and taking data.