It is not a secret that research on extrasolar planets has surged since the turn of the century. Astronomers recognized under a dozen exoplanets a century ago, but today a huge number of candidates are out there for study. As a matter of reality, as of January 13th, 2023, 5,241 planets are found in 3,916 star systems, with another 9,169 candidates waiting for confirmation. The process of sorting through the enormous quantities of information has become more and more difficult, as have the opportunities for exoplanet studies.
That’s the reason why astronomers, research institutes, universities, and space agencies have depended on citizen scientists a great deal lately. Expert amateurs could give their time, resources and energy to the pursuit of planets beyond our Solar System with the aid of internet information, information sharing as well as social networking. As a sign of its significance, NASA has launched the Exoplanet Watch, a citizen science initiative supported by the NASA Universe of Learning. This project will enable regular customers to find out about exoplanets and take part in the discovery and characterization process.
The team of NASA’s Universe of Learning is comprised of scientists, designers as well as teachers who hook up the public to data, discoveries and experts directly associated with NASA astrophysics missions. They also depend upon a national network of informal educators, scientists and engineers who help NASA develop mission data and educational resources. Their objective is to encourage interaction between NASA as well as the public and in order to inspire learning in the fields of science, technology, mathematics and engineering (STEM).
The exoplanet Watch project entails users turning pictures of planetary transits to lightcurves, which is the most powerful and widely used method of Exoplanet detection currently available. This is referred to as Transit Photometry (also recognized as the Transit Method), where periodic dips in brightness of a star are linked to planets that Transit in front of it relative to the viewer (transiting). This particular method is effective for exoplanet detection and restricting their sizes and orbital periods (which helps astronomers determine potential habitability).
Individual scientists can learn from start to finish about Exoplanet science, from data collection & processing to the publication and data sharing of papers that incorporate it, by participating in exoplanet Watch. The individuals get a free application known as EXOplanet Transit Interpretation Code (EXOTIC) that enables them to transform telescope pictures of transiting exoplanets directly into lightcurves. Images could be captured by participants that have access to a camera and a telescope, or they might end up being requested by people who don’t have access to the data checkout system of the project.
This system includes numerous pictures taken by the MicroObservatory Robotic Telescope Network, a series of remote telescopes operated by the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (cfa) and The Las Cumbres Observatory. Exoplanet Watch likewise offers access to telescope data managed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). The materials utilized by the Universe of Learning are derived from NASA’s collaborative work with the CfA, JPL, Caltech’s Infrared Processing and Analysis Center (IPAC), and the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI).
The results must be uploaded to the Exoplanet Database of the American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO) as well as posted on the Exoplanet Watch results page. If these results are used in a scientific paper, the person providing them will be credited as a co-author and listed as having contributed to exoplanet research. Users are also encouraged with subscribe to Exoplanet Watch’s Slack Workspace, where they are going to have the opportunity to participate in bi-weekly meetings, talk to professional astronomers, as well as work with other citizen scientists.
Ever since Jan 2023, participants of the Exoplanet Watch have examined over 270 different exoplanets and produced roughly 1400 light curves. To find out more about How you can Participate and also to sign up for the monthly newsletter, guests are encouraged to go to the How you can Participate page. There’s no demand for specific equipment or expertise, based on NASA’s site for the Exoplanet Watch.
“to actively take part in learning distant worlds, you do not need to be a rocket scientist or an astrophysicist. In this course we are going to teach you what you have to know to be a citizen scientist and gather crucial data on exoplanets. No telescope? Not a problem! “You are able to make use of our information checkout system to request information from an exoplanet observation to evaluate yourself,” she said.
