Abstract

Studying exoplanets requires an excellent understanding of their host stars so that we can accurately measure the current properties of the planet and understand the environment in which the planet formed and evolved. Eclipsing binary stars are the best source of precise, accurate and model-independent fundamental properties for normal stars that can be used to calibrate the next generation of stellar models. In this talk I will outline some of the problems with the current generation of stellar models that have become apparent as a result of studying transiting exoplanets, and discuss how the huge numbers of new eclipsing binaries that are discovered by massive photometric surveys such as WASP and Kepler-K2 can be used to study stars at a level of detail that has, until recently, only possible for the Sun and a few nearby stellar systems.