French Ariel School 2026 : ExoClock training
A training session for transit ephemeris observations has been organized in May 2026 at the Observatoire des Baronnies Provencales . This international school has been followed by twelve participants from 9 different countries of Europe and beyond : master students, PhD, post-doc or early-career scientists.
Dates : May 4th (afternoon) to May 8th (morning)
____________________________________________________________________
Following the annual French Ariel schools organized since 2019 thanks to the CNES support (Les Écoles Ariel – Ariel), in 2026, the French Ariel School has proposed an initiation to the transit observation from small ground based telescopes, in the frame of the ExoClock program (ExoClock – a project to monitor transiting exoplanets) leaded by Anastasia Kokori (UCL).
———————————————————————————-
May the 4th be with you
Agenda
Observatoire des Baronnies Provençales (Moydans)
- May 4th
- Introduction to Exoclock by Anastasia Kokori (remote) : OBP conference room ~17 :00
- First observing night : May 4th – remote observation of the transit of HATS-31-b from Deep Sky Chile piloted by Yves Jongen.
- May 5th
- Real time data reduction of the transit observations of Hats-31-b by Yves Jongen
- Presentations by Jean-Philippe Beaulieu, Anaël Wünsche and visit of the Observatory
- Preparation of the remote observations from Deep Sky Chile : Hats-67b and Hats-58Ab
- Return to Avignon : May 6th at 10:30
Novotel Avignon Centre (May 6-8)
May 6th
- 15h00-19h – training session : data reduction, training, preparation for a submission to Exoclock (if successful) and science presentations
May 7th
- 9:00 to 17:00 Training session : data reduction, training, submission to Exoclock and science presentations
- End of school
Conclusion of the school
The 2026 Ariel school was successful with two transits observed from Deep Sky Chile remotely operated from the OBP where weather was bad. The observations of HATS-31b and HATS-67b have been submitted to ExoClock and are now in the database with « Ariel_OBP » as the collective observer name.
Recommandations – code of conduct
The observatory is situated in the French Alps close to Moydans, at an altitude of ~820m. Even if we are not in high altitude mountains, please anticipate to be equipped for cold weather, especially during the nights.
Code of conduct : As for all academic institutions, our school will strictly follow the rules to provide a safe environment for everybody, enforced if necessary by the organizers
————————————————————————————-
The ExoClock program
ExoClock is an Ariel support program for transit ephemeris update, in order to optimize the observing strategy of Ariel with an updated ephemeris database – many transit times are related to TESS or other satellites observations, with a unescapable drift rising with time. Uncertainties on transit times have a direct impact on the observing strategy of Ariel, by enhancing waste time for observations for security.
Since summer 2025, the ExoClock project is managed by the Pulsar non-profit civil law company, founded by the ExoClock coordinators, Angelos Tsiaras, Anastasia Kokori and Georgia Pantelidou, based in Thessaloniki, Greece.
ExoClock acts as a vehicle for research, education and outreach serving international collaborations opening exoplanet science to the entire world. Today ExoClock counts more than 2000 participants and the project receives an average of 300 observations per month. The project has been running mostly based on volunteer basis for the past 6 years. As it is now really large, we need your support to sustain its activities and service. You have the opportunity to help ExoClock continue its activities by contributing to the following account: https://www.exoclock.space/donate
_________________________________________________________________________
Scientific and organizing committee:
- Jean-Philippe Beaulieu (IAP)
- Pierre Drossart (IAP)
- Jean-Baptiste Marquette
- Anaël Wünsche (OBP)
- Neda Heidari (IAP)
Local organization :
Anaël Wünscshe (also France national ExoClock correspondant)
Yves Jongen (OBA) : remote operation of telescopes in Vaison-la-Romaine and Chile
_________________________________________________________________________________________