NASA makes analysis software available to aid in the study of exoplanets
NASA is asking for volunteers to help study exoplanets. Non-scientists can also participate. Interested parties can use their telescope, but they can also search in data from others. The latter is done via analysis software that NASA makes available.
It’s about it Exoplanet Watch programwhich started in 2018. According to NASA This program had limitations in the number of participants who could sift through data collected by other telescopes, but now that data is available to everyone. The analyzes are done via software called Exoplanet Transit Interpretation Code, or Exotic.
NASA says no experience is required for use guides and instructions offered. A Google account is required to use this software, because Google Colab is part of the system. This is software that NASA scientists also use. Interested parties can download data or consult it via the cloud and then use the analysis tool.
The data to be analyzed comes from a small telescope located in Tucson, Arizona, USA. The project includes a decade of exoplanet observations, with additional data coming this year from the two other telescopes at the Table Mountain facility in Southern California operated by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
These telescopes are mainly used to discover new exoplanets. This is done using the well-known transit method, which looks at small variations in the light coming from a star, which can be caused by a planet that blocks a small amount of light in its orbit around the star as it passes in front of the star. The main intention is for participants to observe previously discovered planets, so that more can be learned about their orbits around the star.
The idea is that the time between the transits of exoplanets reveals how long it takes for an exoplanet to orbit its parent star. The more transits are measured, the more accurately the length of the track can be calculated. If the timing of the orbit is not measured precisely, scientists who want to study the planets in more detail with large telescopes on the ground or in space may lose valuable observation time as they have to wait for the planet to appear. The idea is that if volunteers search the data, a lot of calculation and processing time will be saved. In addition, participants will look for variations in the brightness of stars.
Interested parties who have their own telescope can also help by collecting data. The larger the telescope, the more targets can be found, but there is no minimum requirement for the size of the telescope, according to NASA. The idea is that multiple observations are made of the same target, so that they can be combined to create a more precise picture. Moreover, multiple observations of a transit from different places on Earth are useful, because a transit can last a long time and the star in question can disappear from view during the transit. More than 5,000 exoplanets have been discovered to date.
Source: NASA, Bill Dunford