Who are these notes for?

These notes are written for students and researchers who want a practical introduction to topics in exoplanets, binary star systems, planetary dynamics, and observational astronomy.

This JupyterBook should be useful for:

• upper-level undergraduates beginning research in astronomy, astrophysics, or planetary science,

• graduate students who want a practical reference for simulations, observations, or data analysis,

• researchers looking for example workflows connected to exoplanets in binary star systems,

• anyone with some physics or astronomy background who wants to explore these topics computationally.

You do not need to be an expert programmer to use these notes. Many tutorials are designed to be modified one step at a time. The goal is not just to read about a method, but to test it, change it, and document what happens.

How to use these notes

The tutorials combine short explanations, Python examples, and research-style workflows. Some pages are mostly conceptual, while others are written as interactive notebooks.

As you work through a tutorial, you should try to:

• run the example code before changing it,

• modify one part of the code at a time,

• keep notes about what changed and what happened,

• connect the output back to the physical or observational question,

• record questions that come up while you work.

In research, failed attempts and confusing results are not wasted effort. They are often the most useful part of the learning process, especially if you document them clearly.

Interacting with the book

The code examples are written in Python using Jupyter notebooks. Familiarity with Python and common scientific packages such as NumPy, SciPy, pandas, and Matplotlib is helpful, but not required.

Most pages can be opened in Google Colab using the launch button in the menu at the top of the page. The launch button appears under the rocket icon.

Google Colab provides a browser-based Python environment, so you can run the notebooks without installing Python on your own computer. Many common scientific packages are already available in Colab. Some specialized astronomy packages may need to be installed inside the notebook before they can be used.

Each code cell can be edited and executed. Text cells can also be opened to see the Markdown or MyST source used to format the page. This makes the book useful not only as a set of tutorials, but also as an example of how computational research notes can be written and organized.

Launch Colab button that is available at the top of the screen.

Working with your own copy

All of the source material is publicly available in the GitHub repository saturnaxis/exoplanet-binary.

You can use the repository in several ways:

• browse the files directly on GitHub,

• download the repository as a ZIP file,

• open notebooks from the online JupyterBook in Google Colab,

• clone the repository to your own computer,

• use GitHub Desktop if you prefer a graphical interface instead of the command line.

Cloning the repository gives you a local copy of the book source files. This is useful if you want to edit notebooks, save your own versions, or build on the examples for a research project.

A living document

These notes are a living document. The tutorials will continue to change as new examples, tools, and research questions are added.

Because the material is open and research-focused, you should treat it as a starting point rather than a finished textbook. The examples are meant to support exploration. When you use them, test them carefully, compare against the literature when appropriate, and keep track of your assumptions.

Collaboration, corrections, and improvements are welcome.