Planet Hunters

Ever want to try your hand at astronomy?  www.PlanetHunters.org is giving you that opportunity.  Dedicated to finding planets among a sea of stars, Planet Hunters hosts a website where 40,000 users around the world help professional astronomers analyze 150,000 stars’ light in search of an orbiting planet.  The data being analyzed is from NASA’s Kepler mission.  Does the website work? 

Since its launch in March 2009, two exoplanets have been found beyond our solar system.

“Citizen Scientists” on Planet Hunters have currently discovered 1200 candidates, which are then further investigated by astronomers.  So far, two findings have been classified as planet candidates.  Will you be the one to find the next planet candidate?

Interested in teaching your students more about telescopes? Check out SSR's Vol 40 DVD, episode: Telescope: New Eyes on the Cosmos and X-Ray.  Interested in speaking to students about telescopes? E-mail Fallon@ssrvideo.com

Source:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/09/110922093321.htm