Concept art of a transiting exoplanet (image credit: NASA)

Exoplanet Citizen Science

Observing Exoplanets with the Unistellar eVscope
Section 01

Pre-Observation
01 Pre-Observation Directions (1 of 2)

Disk space and charging

1. To make sure that there is enough disk space on your eVscope to collect cosmic
data, you must upload your data from your eVscope to Unistellar servers. This
can take >1 hour, so please allow enough time before the observation to do so.

2. Make sure to charge your eVscope so it has enough charge for about 5 hours of
observing. We recommend that you charge overnight the day before the
observation, if possible.

3. Review the suggested exoplanet transit observations provided. Pick the most
convenient target for you based on your location and time, but keep in mind your
local weather and location may affect your observing ability.

Galaxies are sometimes shaped like disks. So that you can

observe planets in them, and so we can analyze the data for your
citizen science efforts, make sure to upload your data regularly
and especially before an exoplanet observation.
01 Pre-Observation Directions (2 of 2)

How do I upload eVscope data to the Unistellar Citizen Science server?

1. To do this, connect to your Unistellar eVscope with the Unistellar app.

2. Click on the “User” tab (person symbol). Give the app a moment to load.

3. After it loads, click on “UPLOAD DATA”.

4. Follow instruction on your phone to upload the data. You will have to enter your local Wi-Fi information for the eVscope to
connect to for it to upload for you.

For more help in understanding how to UPLOAD DATA, please refer to this Unistellar HELP article that is complete with video
tutorials: https://help.unistellar.com/hc/en-us/articles/360013803619-eVscope-Data-Storage-Memory-Uploading-Data
5. Note that uploading data may take several hours if your eVscope had a lot of data (>40%). It is suggested to allow your
eVscope to upload while it is charging and you are sleeping or doing something else. Your eVscope will turn itself off
once it completes the upload.

6. You will know that the data upload was successful when you reconnect your phone to the eVscope and return to the User
tab of the App. After a few moments, the data in the storage section should indicate “Storage: 1% used”, which
indicates this process was successful.
Section 02

Observation
02 Observation Directions (1 of 7)

Setting up your eVscope

1. Set up your eVscope about 20 minutes before the observation start
time. It is important that you uncap your telescope at least 10
minutes before an important observation so the mirror temperature
can reach equilibrium to improve image quality and stability.

2. After you connect to your eVscope point at some bright stars and
focus the eVscope, and then auto-align. Make sure it says
“alignment is successful”.

IMPORTANT NOTE: It is very important that you make sure that your tripod is as level as possible and that
you do not bump or change the level during observation so that the eVscope can track your target
02 Observation Directions (2 of 7)

Using “Science Mode” —> Finding your target

3. After alignment, go to the “Science” tab (“graduation cap” symbol), then click on
“Exoplanet transits”.

4. At the top of the Exoplanet transits page, in the Target fields, enter your Right
Ascension (RA) and Declination (Dec) (listed for each target in provided
observation details). Double check your numbers and then hit the GOTO button.
02 Observation Directions (3 of 7)

Using “Science Mode” —> Checking your FOV

5. While your eVscope is finding the target, click on the eVscope tab
(telescope symbol) to watch the telescope find the target. The app will
alert you when it is done finding the target with the text “Goto validated”.

6. If provided, compare your eVscope’s field of view (FOV) against the provided
finder chart. You may need to mentally rotate the eVscope image, but the
star pattern in your FOV should roughly match that of the finder chart.

7. Take a screen shot of the field of view (FOV) and take a mental note about
how the stars look on the screen (or refer back to the finder chart). You’ll
need to check the FOV approximately every ~30 minutes during the
observation to make sure your target is still centered. ED
ID
OV
PR
ART
H
RC
DE
F FIN
REI
A
OMP
C
02 Observation Directions (4 of 7)

Using “Science Mode” —> Taking DARKS!

8. After completing steps 4 – 7, go back to the “Science” tab.

9. ~5 minutes before start time, TAKE DARKS: In the “Recording” fields, change the
“Exposure time”, “Gain”, and “Cadence” to the values given in your observation details.
Put the lens cap back onto the eVscope. Set the “Duration” to “02min 00s” (2 minutes).
Press the “LAUNCH” button to record your darks. Please note the local time that you took
darks.

10. Remove the lens cap after 2 minutes has passed and the recording has finished.
02 Observation Directions (5 of 7)

Using “Science Mode” —> Begin recording an exoplanet transit!

11. Change the “Duration” to “30min 00s” (30 minutes) and make sure your exposure,
cadence, and gain settings are the same as for the darks and as given in the
observation details.

12. At designated start time for your target, press the “LAUNCH” button to begin recording
your exoplanet target. Set a timer on your watch or check a clock to remind you to
come back a little less than 30 minutes later so you’re ready to repeat this process.

13. Feel free to go back to the “eVscope” tab to watch the live view of your data being taken.
02 Observation Directions (6 of 7)

Using “Science Mode” —> Continue recording an exoplanet transit!

14. After the 30-minute recording completes, repeat the “Goto” process with your RA and Dec. This should be faster
than the first time around. After it finishes, check to make sure your FOV matches your original (again, rotation
is OK) and exposure, cadence, and gain settings are correct. Then click on “LAUNCH” for another 30-minute
recording.
15. Repeat this process until your observation time ends. Note that you may have to adjust the time of your last
block of recording based off of how much time is left towards the end of your transit observation. It is okay to
set your duration a bit shorter or longer than 30 minutes for the last round of recording.

14

15
02 Observation Directions (7 of 7)

Using “Science Mode” —> Finishing your observation and taking more DARKS!
16. TAKE DARKS AGAIN: In the “Recording” fields, make sure the settings are the same. Put
the lens cap back onto the eVscope to take your darks. Set the “Duration” to “02min
00s” (2 minutes). Press the “LAUNCH” button to record your darks. Please note the local
time that you took darks.

17. After your darks, you are done!

18. Park your eVscope and celebrate because you are officially an exoplanet hunter!
Section 03

Post-Observation
03 Post-Observation Directions (1 of 1)

Sending us your data for exoplanet analysis and light curve creation!
1. Send us the transit data by following the same directions from the pre-observation directions in this
manual. Link to help article.

2. Contact us by email at [email protected] to inform us that you observed. In

your email, include the following:

Your name

Observing location (city, state/region, country and/or latitude & longitude)

Name of target you observed

The approximate local time when you took your dark frames

Any important notes about the observation (e.g. it was really windy, clouds, etc.)

The eVscope SSID of your eVscope. This is the same letter/number code that appears on your
phone when you are selecting your eVscope to connect to your phone via its broadcasted WiFi
signal, and can also be found in the "User" tab in the box at the top titled "SSID". E.g. eVscope-
abc1d2.

The Kepler-90 system; AI helped discover the planet called Kepler-90i.NASA/Wendy Stenzel

Section 04

Conclusions
04 Conclusions

Thank you! You are a citizen science rock star!

Capturing exoplanet transits is hard work, and we are still in the pilot experimental stage of this citizen
science initiative. After we have analyzed your data, we will be in contact with you to let you know if the
data successfully showed the transit of an exoplanet.

There may even be possibilities to be involved in published academic articles in the future so be sure to
follow Unistellar @Unistellar on Twitter, and stay in touch with the Unistellar/SETI Exoplanet Science Team
on our Citizen Science Slack Channel.

If your data shows a transit we will work on sharing with you the data and your very own exoplanet light
curve, like the one captured by SETI Institute researcher, Tom Esposito, in March 2020 (figure 1)!

Figure 1. Detection of exoplanet, WASP-43b (TESS TOI 656.01) with a Unistellar

eVscope. Observation taken from Richmond, California by Tom Esposito on
2020 March 27. Data analysis/figure also by Tom.