Project PANOPTES: A Unique Approach for Exoplanet Transit Detection using DSLR Cameras

PANOPTES is a citizen-science based project designed to recover transit information from a large number of exoplanets across the entire night sky. The scientific goals of the project include the ability to detect novel exoplanet transits as well as provide valuable follow-up capabilities for existing and future exoplanet surveys. A single PANOPTES unit is capable of recovering light curve transits using percent level photometry for Vmag=8 to 12 stars and the project accuracy scales with the square root of the number of units observing the target. This overlaps well with early detections from the TESS mission while offering critical long-term follow up potential. The most significant technical challenge associated with the use of consumer digital cameras is the presence of the Bayer color filter array, which complicates photometry due to the inter-pixel variation associated with each color. Here we present a working demonstration of the novel algorithm developed for PANOPTES along with the light curve for the planet HD189733b obtained during a single transit observation. Data for the the observation was taken on a PANOPTES unit constructed and operated by two Caltech summer interns during the summer of 2018. Future work will apply the algorithm to observations spanning multiple PANOPTES telescopes at diverse locations as well as continued improvements.