JAKARTA - Beyond the Solar System there are many foreign planets that NASA cannot possibly observe alone. Therefore, the US space agency asked amateur astronomers to help find it.
Through the Exoplanet Watch program, NASA will ask amateur astronomers to help track planets outside the Solar System, also known as exoplanets.
To find it, participants can use their own telescopes or learn data from other telescopes provided by NASA via their computers or smartphones.
"With Exoplanet Watch you can learn how to observe exoplanets and perform data analysis using the software that real NASA scientists use," said NASA's Exoplanet Watch and astrophysicist program creator Rob Zellem.
"We are excited to show more people how extraplanetary science is really done."
The Exoplanet Watch program began in 2018 under NASA Universe of Learning, which is one of the space agency's Science Activation programs, where anyone can experience how science is done and find the universe for themselves.
Launching Space, Tuesday, January 17, at that time, there was a limit on the number of people that could help see the data collected by other telescopes. Now, the program is more accessible, allowing anyone to download and analyze data.
Currently, there are more than 5,000 exoplanets that have been confirmed and millions of other potentials that have not been found. And if amateur astronomers have their own telescopes, the Exoplanet Watch program can help them learn how to detect transits of exosure planets, regardless of the size of the telescope used.
Joint observations help the discovery of an exoplanet called HD 80606 b, which will be observed by the James Webb Space Telescope later this year. The planet was detected using combined observations of more than 20 participants of the Exoplanet Watch program.
"I hope this program lowers science barriers for many and inspires the next generation of astronomers to join our fields," said Zellem.
Even if you don't have a telescope, amateur astronomers can participate in the Exoplanet Watch program. They can see observations of exoplanets for 10 years collected by small ground-based telescopes south of Arizona.
New data from two telescopes at the Table Mountain JPL facility in Southern California, USA, will also be added to this year's program database that can be used by participants.
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