The SETI Institute has partnered with telescope manufacturer Unistellar on a citizen science campaign to enlist the help of space enthusiasts in discovering candidates for the hot giant exoplanets of Jupiter identified by NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS).
“There are too many candidate planets discovered by NASA’s TESS mission, and we want to continue observing them even if they are not in TESS’s field of view,” said Frank, SETI’s chief planetary astronomer. registration.
“So this network is key to going on and trying to observe difficult things like long-range exoplanets, where uncertainties can be high.
More than 5,000 alien planets have been identified since the first exoplanet was discovered 30 years ago. Before 1992, the only scientists in the world who caught a glimpse of it were the objects in our solar system. Cataloging exoplanets opens up a whole new field of astronomy, helping scientists understand what is out there in outer space and whether other planets support intelligent life. Assist.
The majority of exoplanets have been discovered using the transit method. Space observatories such as the Kepler telescope and TESS measure the light from distant stars and detect changes in their brightness.
Periodic dimming is a sign that a celestial body is orbiting a star. When a planet passes or transits in front of a star, its luminosity temporarily decreases. By measuring the length and brightness of these events, researchers can estimate the exoplanet’s orbital period, radius, and mass.
Thousands of new candidates have been discovered, and TESS has identified over 10,000 other candidates. Astronomers need to look at them more closely, there is a lot to study.
“The demand for observations across exoplanets has never been greater,” SETI said in a statement.
“Confirmed planets require regular re-observations by terrestrial systems to keep their orbitals up to date. The potential contribution of citizen scientists to exoplanet science is likely to stimulate STEM education.”
The nonprofit is working with Unistellar, a company that makes smart telescopes for amateur astronomers, to help citizen scientists make follow-up observations to find an exoplanet.
Additional data helps TESS confirm whether the candidate is an actual exoplanet or a false positive, such as a binary star during an eclipse. The One Star Exoplanet Expedition provides expert guidance and creates a list of targets to look for.
Citizen scientists help astronomers study TOI 1812, a trio of exoplanets in our solar system 563 light-years from Earth. The radius and orbital period of two planets have been known, with the exception of a Saturn-sized world codenamed TOI 1812.01. Last month, a network of 20 astronomers from seven countries observed a candidate exoplanet and successfully confirmed its orbital duration of 112 days.
“Observing exoplanets like TOI 1812.01 as they transit or pass in front of their host stars confirms their nature as true planets, and will allow us to study their planetary systems in the future,” Ball said. It is a key factor in ensuring efficiency.” Dalba from SETI Institute. Research Scientist and 51 Pegasi b Fellow at the Heising-Simons Foundation.
“The specific characteristics of this planet, namely its long orbit and long transit time, put a globally coordinated citizen science such as the Unistellar network in a very effective category.”
Space enthusiasts who want to participate will have an ideal telescope for observing transits of exoplanets and recording object coordinates and exposure times. Anyone can join our Slack channel to interact with other citizen scientists.
“This early success demonstrates the power of putting science directly in people’s hands. This is the basic principle of the partnership between SETI, Unistellar and NASA.
“It is simply amazing that astronomers from all over the world can come together to teach humanity about new planets that have been discovered trillions of miles away.” ®