Do you want to help NASA search for exoplanets? See how involved!

one definitions planet She: orbiting a star. The Earth is a planet that revolves around the Sun, but our star is not the only star around which planets revolve. There are those that orbit outside our solar system, that is, they orbit another star and are classified as exoplanets.

The existence of the first exoplanet was confirmed in the 1990s, and since then, astronomical studies have been developing on it. About 5,000 exoplanets have been identified, but it is estimated that there are many more.

Therefore, the NASA, through a program, that invites you to search for exoplanets. By observing exoplanets, it will be possible to analyze the data in a relatively efficient and practical way to find exoplanets.

Exoplanet Watch has been around since 2018 with NASA’s Education Universe initiative, but it was only announced with a recent statement from the agency that civil society could be part of the project.

For this, those interested will learn the way to crossover with NASA through from this tutorial. This will happen by observing, in their telescopes, a star spot or light bursts. Thus, when the planet passes by, it will be possible to measure the time it takes for an exoplanet to orbit its parent star.

NASA and space are getting ahead

Since the space race of the Cold War period, astronomical and astronaut innovations have evolved more and more. Super Space Telescope James Webb is one of the largest technological contributions to date.

James Webb was launched on Christmas 2021, with his technology that uses infrared lights, and he has already been able to record discoveries and deep analyzes of stars, including exoplanets.

Inclusion by NASA can help scientists predict the variability of the star in question. In doing so, the study of exoplanets, which uses telescopes such as Webb, will have an advanced part.

NASA volunteers who participate in the program, in addition to using their telescopes for the aforementioned observations, will also be able to use their own telescopes. cell phone Or computers to download software and search for data about exoplanets.