{"id":9607,"date":"2015-01-07T23:23:46","date_gmt":"2015-01-08T04:23:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=9607"},"modified":"2021-10-02T23:49:23","modified_gmt":"2021-10-03T03:49:23","slug":"low-cost-exoplanet-hunting-and-gathering","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=9607","title":{"rendered":"Low cost exoplanet hunting and gathering"},"content":{"rendered":"

A number of projects are showing that finding and studying exoplanets can be done with relatively low cost systems: \u00a0 :\u00a0Brave new world-hunters spot exoplanets on the cheap – New Scientist<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Such systems do not replace the space-based observatories like\u00a0Kepler<\/a>\u00a0or the ground-based work by giant telescopes. These systems\u00a0can look at thousands of stars with high resolution and sensitivity. Instead, the small guys can focus for long periods on just a handful of star systems. This can be done to hunt for\u00a0new exoplanets or to gather more information on those found by the big systems.<\/p>\n

Since Kepler’s staggering number of finds implied most stars probably have planets, astronomers are increasingly aiming for detailed planet studies instead of just making discoveries, Johnson says.<\/em><\/p>\n

“This is no longer the day of swashbuckling scientists trying to get as many kills as possible,” [Greg Laughlin<\/a>, an astronomer at the University of California at Santa Cruz,] says. “There is so much great science just sitting on the floor… with the Kepler statistics in hand, we’re no longer in the area of planet hunting. We’re in the era of planet gathering.”<\/em><\/p>\n

For example, there is the\u00a0Minerva exoplanet observatory<\/a>, which describes itself as follows\u00a0–<\/p>\n

Minerva<\/span> will be an array of small-aperture robotic telescopes outfitted for both photometry and high-resolution spectroscopy. It will be the first U.S. observatory dedicated to exoplanetary science capable of both precise radial velocimetry and transit studies. The multi-telescope concept will be implemented to either observe separate targets or a single target with a larger effective aperture. The flexibility of the observatory will maximize scientific potential and also provide ample opportunities for education and public outreach. The design and implementation of Minerva<\/span> will be carried out by postdoctoral and student researchers at Caltech.<\/em><\/p>\n

…<\/p>\n

The primary science goal of Minerva<\/span> is to discover Earth-like planets in close-in (less than 50-day) orbits around nearby stars, and super-Earths (3-15 times the mass of Earth) in the habitable zones of the closest Sun-like stars. The secondary goal will be to look for transits (eclipses) of known and newly-discovered extrasolar planets, which provide information about the radii and interior structures of the planets….<\/em><\/p>\n

[]<\/a><\/p>\n

Aqawan 1 and Telescope 1 at the Caltech
\ncommissioning site. Image credit: M. Wong<\/em><\/p>\n

Such a system is even accessible for (wealthy) amateurs. From the NS article:<\/p>\n

Minerva uses four 0.7-metre-wide, 2.5-metre-tall commercial telescopes built by a company called PlaneWave<\/a>, which also sells them to hobbyists for about $200,000 \u2013 Amazon founder Jeff Bezos bought one just before Minerva’s team.<\/em><\/p>\n

The\u00a0Mearth Project<\/a>\u00a0is another exoplanet observatory using arrays of off-the-shelf\u00a0telescopes<\/a>.<\/p>\n

[]<\/a><\/p>\n

There is also the\u00a0HATNet Exoplanet Survey<\/a>\u00a0(Hungarian-made Automated Telescope Network) project.<\/p>\n

[]<\/a><\/p>\n

HATNet telescopes located at the Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory<\/a> (FLWO)
\non\u00a0Mount Hopkins in Arizona, USA (5 telescopes), <\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A number of projects are showing that finding and studying exoplanets can be done with relatively low cost systems: \u00a0 :\u00a0Brave new world-hunters spot exoplanets on the cheap – New Scientist. Such systems do not replace the space-based observatories like\u00a0Kepler\u00a0or the ground-based work by giant telescopes. These systems\u00a0can look at thousands of stars with high … Continue reading Low cost exoplanet hunting and gathering<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[12,46],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9607","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-astronomy","category-exoplanets"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p34aWK-2uX","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4393,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=4393","url_meta":{"origin":9607,"position":0},"title":"Video: Imaging habitable exoplanets + PANOPTES citizen science exoplanet search","author":"TopSpacer","date":"September 10, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Here's a very interesting SETI Institute seminar by Olivier Guyon about the possibilities of directly imaging planets in the habitable zones of stars by using coronagraph techniques on telescopes to suppress the glare of the star. Could work with a Hubble size telescope in orbit or with the new giant\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Astronomy"","block_context":{"text":"Astronomy","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=12"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/Da2KLcbUIV8\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":11453,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=11453","url_meta":{"origin":9607,"position":1},"title":"Video: Detecting exoplanet systems with microlensing","author":"TopSpacer","date":"September 24, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Here is a SETI Institute seminar on a lesser known way to detect and measure exoplanets: Detecting Exoplanetary Systems with Micolensing - Scott Gaudi (SETI Talks) https:\/\/youtu.be\/sTmw5AacyF4 From the caption: Measurements of the demographics of exoplanets over a range of planet and host star properties provide fundamental empirical constraints on\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Astronomy"","block_context":{"text":"Astronomy","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=12"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/sTmw5AacyF4\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":20579,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=20579","url_meta":{"origin":9607,"position":2},"title":"Video: An overview of finding and studying exoplanets","author":"TopSpacer","date":"December 18, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Dr. Courtney Dressing of the University of California at Berkeley gives a public lecture on exoplanets: The NASA Kepler mission revealed that our Galaxy is teeming with planetary systems and that Earth-sized planets are common. However, most of the planets detected by Kepler orbit stars too faint to permit detailed\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Astronomy"","block_context":{"text":"Astronomy","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=12"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"\/\/ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com\/e\/ir?t=hobbyspace&l=am2&o=1&a=147291774X","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4412,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=4412","url_meta":{"origin":9607,"position":3},"title":"Surrey Satellite to design exoplanet satellite mission","author":"TopSpacer","date":"September 11, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"An announcement from Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL): ESA selects SSTL to design Exoplanet satellite mission Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL) has been selected by the European Space Agency (ESA) for the competitive design phase of CHEOPS science satellite, which will improve mankind\u2019s understanding of exoplanets - planets orbiting distant\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Astronomy"","block_context":{"text":"Astronomy","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=12"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":13656,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=13656","url_meta":{"origin":9607,"position":4},"title":"Video: Overview of the TESS mission to look for exoplanets around nearby stars","author":"TopSpacer","date":"December 17, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Dr. George Ricker is the Principle Investigator of the TESS\u00a0(Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite)\u00a0Mission, which will succeed Kepler as the primary US space observatory looking for exoplanets. He reviews the mission, which will launch in 2017, in this video: https:\/\/youtu.be\/fyvnXvZMOfA From the caption: The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) will discover\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Exoplanets"","block_context":{"text":"Exoplanets","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=46"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/fyvnXvZMOfA\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":12957,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=12957","url_meta":{"origin":9607,"position":5},"title":"Video: Studying exoplanets individually and in ensembles","author":"TopSpacer","date":"July 28, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Below\u00a0is a video of Sarah Ballard of MIT giving\u00a0a recent SETI Institute talk titled,\u00a0Exoplanets: Under a Microscope, and Through a Wide-field Lens\u00a0- The Solar System furnishes the most familiar planetary architecture: many planets, orbiting nearly coplanar to one another. 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