The Detection and Exploration of Planets from the Trans-atlantic Exoplanet Survey

This thesis dissertation presents the discovery of three transiting planets (TrES-2, TrES-3, and TrES-4) of nearby bright stars made with the ten-centimeter telescope Sleuth as part of the Trans-atlantic Exoplanet Survey (TrES). Examples of the astrophysical false positives encountered in Sleuth data are discussed to highlight the benefit of a multisite survey such as TrES, and also of comprehensive follow-up of transit candidates.