THIS month I am escaping from Earth and joining astronomers in their search for undiscovered worlds. You can too, by participating in the project online.
You will be asked to flick through observations from NASA鈥檚 Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) and look out for signs of worlds beyond our solar system. Each time one of these exoplanets passes in front of its parent star 鈥� a process known as transiting 鈥� it blocks out a small amount of the star鈥檚 light.
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The dimming that occurs during a , appearing as a . By drawing boxes around these dips on the graphs, you can help astronomers comb through the vast amounts of data generated by the satellite each month and potentially aid in the discovery of new planets.
Depending on how far a planet is from its star and the number of planets in a star system, you might notice one or multiple transits in the star鈥檚 light graph. Astronomers can also use the data to work out information about a planet, such as its mass and density.
Citizen scientists participating in the project recently a type of star called a yellow dwarf. 鈥淲e think both of the planets have really extended atmospheres,鈥� says , who leads Planet Hunters TESS. This means the planets probably aren鈥檛 very dense, as their atmospheres are spread out in space.
Eisner and her team published the findings in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, with the citizen scientists who contributed listed as co-authors. 鈥淧eople get very excited when I send them an email saying, 鈥榶ou helped find a planet鈥�,鈥� says Eisner.
I am still waiting (hoping) to get that email, but the 33,800 volunteers who have taken part since the project launched in 2018 have already contributed to the identification of around 140 planet candidates.
And, although Eisner and her colleagues also use artificial intelligence to comb through the data, human observations offer something that algorithms can鈥檛.
鈥淭he exciting thing about our candidates compared to the ones the algorithm finds is that ours tend to be longer period, [meaning] it takes them longer to go around their star once,鈥� says Eisner. These planets are less likely to be noticed by the algorithm, since their longer orbital periods mean they transit less frequently. They are of particular interest to astronomers, as they are more likely to be in the habitable zone where liquid water could exist.
Eisner has yet to find any habitable zone planets, but perhaps you can help her. 鈥淜eep an eye out for things that look strange,鈥� she recommends.
What you need
Access to Planet Hunters TESS via
For other projects visit聽newscientist.com/maker
