This program models the transit / occultation in a star + planet system. It is a slightly modified version of a previous program. Now it is possible to add white noise to the signal, and it may be interesting to appreciate how, for noise above a given level, the signature of the planet transit is no longer appreciable. Here below the description of the other features of the program (as from its former version). The planet is moving around the star following a circular orbit, whose inclination can be changed in real time (the scaling for the inclination is such that 100 corresponds to 30 degrees). Also the planet and stellar sizes can be changed in real time by moving the cursors with the mouse (in this case their scalings are such that 100 corresponds to half the orbital size). It is also possible to slow down the animation, by setting the Slow Motion parameter to larger values: this may be useful to inspect in greater detail the initial and final phases of the occultation . The lower section of the screen shows the evolution of the observed flux, namely of the fraction of the star that is not covered by the planet. Even if physically unreasonable, the program allows to have a planet size even larger than than of the star, so that one can experience a full range of conditions like, for instance, partial or even total eclipses, as well as full of grazing occultations. The core of the program is the routine for calculating the intersecting area between two circles.
Graphic cartoon by Barbara Olmi
