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Make Your Own Exoplanet Detector Zach Berta-Thompson January 14, 2016 Light emitting diodes (LED) convert energized electrons into photons. But, they can also be used in the opposite way, to convert photons into energized electrons, which you can read out as a small voltage on a multimeter. These instructions tell you how to make a small light detector with an LED, which you could use to make the same kind measurements we make to find and student planets orbiting other stars. Use an LED as a light meter • Take a wire with alligator clips at both ends, and cut the wire in the middle. Strip off about 1cm of insulator from each of the cut ends, revealing the copper wire within. • Take a LED (red and yellow work best). Tightly wrap the two exposed copper wires around each of the LED’s legs. Be sure wires don’t short circuit the two sides. • To provide a sturdy base, push the LED legs into the end of a cork. Drape the wires over the sides of the cork, and tape them in place. • Connect the alligator clips to the two probes of a multimeter. Turn on the multimeter and set it to measure small voltages ("200mV"). • You should see the voltage increase as you bring your light sensor closer to a bright light.