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An introduction to exoplanets
An introduction to exoplanets

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4  How to measure an exoplanet’s size and mass

Why are transiting planets so special? What can you learn about them?

The key advantage held by studies of transiting exoplanets is that astronomers have a measurement of the exoplanets’ size relative to their stars. For planets that don’t transit, it isn’t possible to measure their physical size, so transiting planets can give us much more information than other planets can.