CLICK THE PIC

For those of you crunching EINSTEIN@HOME you may indirectly be finding new planets!

Radio signals from the pulsar PSR B1257+12 in the constellation Virgo led Penn State professor of Astronomy and Astrophysics Alexander Wolszczan to discover the first planets ever known outside our solar system. He discovered the planets in 1991 and confirmed their existence in 1994. Wolszczan used the worlds largest radio telescope in Arecibo, Puerto Rico, to time the radio signals coming from a distant tiny neutron star in the constellation Virgo, 7,000 trillion miles from Earth. These measurements helped him to determine that two of the planets are similar in mass to Earth and the other is about the mass of the Moon. Until Wolszczan's discovery, the only known planets were in our solar system. His work suggests that planets may be more common in the universe than astronomers had previously thought. It will also help astronomers to understand how planets, including Earth, are formed. The planets Wolszczan found probably don't support life because the tiny pulsar they orbit bombards them with deadly radiation. However, his discovery increases the chances that somewhere in the universe planets may exist that, like Earth, are capable of supporting life...


CLICK THE PIC

PLANET SEARCH PROJECTS

Click on the interactive map to browse the planet finding centers around the world.

Astronomers announce discovery of 5 new planets

January 31, 2005

(PLANET QUEST) -- A team of U.S. astronomers has discovered five gas-giant type planets outside our solar system, bringing to 139 the total number of known planets orbiting stars other than the Sun, according to a paper posted in the online edition of The Astrophysical Journal.

The new planets were detected using the radial velocity method, which infers the presence of an unseen companion because of the back-and-forth movement induced in the host star. This movement is detectable as a periodic red shift and blue shift in the star's spectral lines. (For more about this method, see the article Finding Planets.)

As with all other extrasolar planet discoveries to date, the new planets are not of a type that could support life as we know it. However, they provide further statistical information about the distribution and properties of planetary systems, according to the paper.

The new planets are:

- HD 183263 b, which has a minimum mass more than three times that of Jupiter and takes 634 days to complete an orbit;
- HD 117207 B, which has a minimum mass about twice that of Jupiter and takes 2,627 days to complete an orbit;
- HD 188015 b, which has a minimum mass only slightly greater than Jupiter, is located at a similar distance from its star as the Earth is from the Sun, and takes 456 days to complete an orbit;
- HD 45350 b, which is slightly smaller in mass than Jupiter, and takes 891 days to complete an orbit;
- HD 99492 b, which has a relatively low minimum of mass, about 36 times that of Earth and takes 17 days to compete an orbit.

The team, led by Geoff Marcy and Paul Butler, based its findings on observations obtained at the W.M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii.

---

me@rescam.org

Detection of Extrasolar Planets via Photometry
Another of Doyle's current projects is detecting extrasolar planets utilizing photometry. Doyle uses photometry in three different ways to measure the brightness variation of stars. The Photometric Transit Method uses an algorithm to look for the shadow of a planet as it goes through the disc of a star. The algorithm is a mathematical way of quantifying if there really is a transit or an oscillation in the atmosphere. Another method, the Phase Reflection Method uses sinusoidal variation (similar to the orbiting of the moon from new to full) to detect giant planets as they go through phases orbiting near their stars. Eclipsing Binaries is the third planet detection method for stars that come in pairs and eclipse in front of each other regularly. By timing the eclipses, astronomers can determine whether there is a planet nearby, offsetting those eclipses.

PlanetQuest
PlanetQuest is perhaps the project about which Doyle is most passionate. It is educational in nature and allows everyone to participate in the search for extrasolar planets. "I see this as turning everyone into astronomers," exclaims Doyle. "It isn't just reading about it. And it isn't just supporting something. It's turning people into the explorers. It's turning them into bona fide astronomers with the opportunity to discover something, and soon." PlanetQuest software allows amateur astronomers to download, images of high-density star regions. The assigned star would be tracked using the computers spare CPU cycles. "The basic idea is they pick out a star and their computer measures the brightness of the star and compares it with brightness variations that are typical of different kinds of variable stars," says Doyle. The program is connected to the PlanetQuest website which would provide a reference for the user as to what he or she is discovering. There is also a cataloguing system that will allow the user to be credited with any discoveries. While only one in 3,000 to 5,000 stars will have planets going across it, all stars will be doing something, claims Doyle. "Sometimes they just sit there like the sun and create a nice stable habitable zone," he saids. "Sometimes they pulsate and are interesting as distance indicators or for studying stellar stability or evolution." Doyle believes that participating in searching the universe is a great way for people to set aside differences as they seek something relevant to everyone, on the planet. "We need to connect," he says. "The universe is huge now. I really feel like we need something to unite us and connect us together. In a worldwide search for worlds revolving around other stars, I think that has a possibility of helping to unite people."

---

me@rescam.org

The TPF general astrophysics whitepaper is now available.

---

me@rescam.org

Planets galore: 12 new discoveries announced



February 16, 2005

(PLANET QUEST) -- The past four weeks have been heady ones in the planet-finding world: Three teams of astronomers announced the discovery of 12 previously unknown worlds, bringing the total count of planets outside our solar system to 145.

Just a decade ago, scientists knew of only the nine planets - those in our local solar system. In 1995, improved detection techniques produced the first solid evidence of a planet circling another star. A proliferation of discoveries followed, and now dozens of ongoing search efforts around the globe add steadily to the roster of worlds. Most of these planets differ markedly from the planets in our own solar system. They are more similar to Jupiter or Saturn than to Earth, and are considered unlikely to support life as we know it.

The news of the past four weeks has included:

The discovery of six new gas-giant planets by two teams of European planet-hunters was announced this week. Two of these planets are similar in mass to Saturn; three belong to a class known as "hot jupiters" because of their close proximity to the host stars. The sixth is a gas giant at least four-and-a-half times the mass of Jupiter.
All were discovered as part of the High Accuracy Radial velocity Planet Search (HARPS), an ongoing search program based at La Silla Observatory in Chile.

On January 20, a paper posted in the online edition of the Astrophysical Journal described five new gas-giant type planets detected by a team of U.S. astronomers. These planets provide further statistical information about the distribution and properties of planetary systems, according to the paper.
The U.S. team based its finding on observations obtained at the W.M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii, which is jointly operated by the University of California and Caltech. Observation time was granted by both NASA and the University of California.

Last week, Penn State's Alex Wolszczan and Caltech's Maciej Konacki announced the discovery of the smallest planet-like body detected beyond our solar system. The object belongs to a strange class known as "pulsar planets." It is about one-fifth the size of Pluto and orbits a rapidly spinning neutron star, called a pulsar.

A pulsar is a dense and compact star that forms from the collapsing core left over from the death of a massive star. The new pulsar planet is the fourth to be discovered; all orbit the same pulsar, named PSR B1257+12.

Because the planets around the pulsar are continually strafed by high-energy radiation, they are considered extremely inhospitable to life. (Note: The currentl planet count posted on this website includes only planets around normal stars.)

Two methods of detection:

The pulsar planet was discovered by observing the neutron star's pulse arrival times, called pulsar timing. Variations in these pulses give astronomers an extremely precise method for detecting the phenomena that occur within a pulsar's environment.

The gas-giant planets were detected using the radial velocity method, which infers the presence of an unseen companion because of the back-and-forth movement induced in the host star. This movement is detectable as a periodic red shift and blue shift in the star's spectral lines. (For more about this method, see the article Finding Planets.)

---

me@rescam.org

What is the Space Interferometry Mission (SIM)?
SIM PlanetQuest, scheduled for launch in 2010, will determine the positions and distances of stars several hundred times more accurately than any previous program. This accuracy will allow SIM PlanetQuest to determine the distances to stars throughout the galaxy and to probe nearby stars for Earth-sized planets...

What are the SIM's science goals?
The Space Interferometry Mission, SIM, is the first space project designed to use interferometry to measure the positions of stars. It will do so to a degree of accuracy unprecedented by earlier groundbased or space-based measurements. During the course of its five-year mission, SIM, operating from 450 - 900 nm, will complete a survey of the whole sky, using interferometric techniques to tie the optical reference frame it defines firmly to the radio reference frame already established...

What are the SIM's technology goals?
Control of optical components with nanometer precision. Sub-nanometer-level sensing of optical element positions. Integration of a large set of complex instrument systems that must work together autonomously while in orbit...

What is the SIM's project status?

Space Interferometry Mission white paper

INTERACTIVE INTERFEROMETRY DEMO

---

me@rescam.org

Kepler Mission Animation
The first sequence of this animation shows the Kepler spacecraft as it leaves the Earth to go into orbit around the Sun. The spacecraft soon turns to point to the 100,000 stars in our galaxy that it will monitor for four years looking for planetary transits. The second sequence shows how a planet in a distant system periodically blocks some of the light bound for the Kepler spacecraft, signaling the presence of a planet.

Kepler Science Animation
The animation shows several planets in orbit around different stars far off in our galaxy. Each planet casts a moving shadow as it orbits its parent star. We then zoom back from the 100,000 stars being monitored, which are about 1000 light-years away. The Kepler spacecraft watching those stars will record the periodic faint change in brightness produced by orbiting planets. The light from the stars is focused by the optics onto an array of charged coupled devices (CCD). In this way the Kepler scientists hope to detect many hundreds of habitable planets.

NASA's Kepler website

---

me@rescam.org

WoW!
Thanks for keeping us informed! :)

---

What is the Keck Interferometer (KI)?
The Keck Interferometer is part of NASA's overall effort to find planets and ultimately life beyond our solar system. It will combine the light from the twin Keck telescopes to measure the emission from dust orbiting nearby stars, directly detect the hottest gas giant planets, image disks around young stars and other objects of astrophysical interest, and survey hundreds of stars for the presence of planets the size of Uranus or larger. The Keck Interferometer is a ground-based component of NASA's Origins Program. Origins addresses fundamental questions about the formation of galaxies, stars, and planetary systems, the prevalence of planetary systems around other stars, and the formation of life on Earth. At 4,150 meters (13,600 feet) above the Pacific Ocean, atop the dormant volcano Mauna Kea on the "Big Island" of Hawaii, the twin Keck Telescopes are the world's largest telescopes for optical and near-infrared astronomy. The Keck Interferometer joins these giant telescopes to form a powerful astronomical instrument...

What are the KI's science goals?
The Keck Interferometer will be capable of carrying out a variety of scientific studies integral to NASA's search for new worlds. It primary goals are the characterization of exozodiacal dust, which can obscure the infrared signature of orbiting planets; direct detection of giant planets and brown dwarfs; high-resolution imaging of protoplanetary disks; and the astrometric detection of planets...

What are the KI's technology goals?
The twin Keck telescopes will initially form a two-element interferometer with a separation of 85 meters. With the light-gathering capability of the two 10-m telescopes, the resulting interferometer will give the angular resolution of an 85-meter telescope: 8.5 times that of a single Keck telescope...

KI's Adaptive Optics System animation
This animation illustrates how adaptive optics is used to remove distortions caused by the Earth's atmosphere. A representative sample of the light that is being collected across the entire main mirror of the telescope enters a wavefront sensor, which separates the column of light into many areas, or zones, and samples each zone to determine how the light was altered by our atmosphere. By taking samples many times per second, the information from the wavefront sensor is fed back to a "flexible" mirror that can be adjusted to counteract for the distortions caused by the atmosphere.

Keck Interferometer Animation
This animation demonstrates how the twin Keck telescopes gather light from a single star. Through a technique called interferometry, the beams are combined to achieve a resolution equal to that of a single, enormous telescope. A process called nulling will be used to suppress the bright starlight, allowing scientists to study the star's much dimmer planetary companion.

Keck Interferometer Virtual Tour
The Keck Interferometer is a powerful new instrument that is being developed to search for new planets and investigate our cosmic origins. Located 4,150 meters (13,600 feet) above the Pacific Ocean atop Hawaii's Mauna Kea, a dormant volcano, the W.M. Keck Observatory houses the world's two largest optical and infrared telescopes. By linking them together as an instrument called an interferometer, astronomers can obtain measurements that are not possible with a single telescope. Observations are carried out by pointing both telescopes at the same target and combining their light in an optical laboratory in the basement of the observatory. For more information about how this process works, see Interferometry. To find out more about how optical interferometry can be used to cancel out starlight so that nearby planets or other features can be observed, see Planet Imaging.

---

me@rescam.org

CLICK THE PIC!

CLICK THE PIC!

Frank Drake and Seth Shostak Look at Optical SETI

QuickTime videos:

Optical SETI makes sense

Optical SETI's Target Stars

Advantages of Optical SETI

Optical SETI's "Ah-hah! moment"

Potential opportunity for amateurs

Simple and inexpensive equipment

OSETI Comes of Age

In the TV Western, cowboys often flashed mirrors to signal each other across desert buttes. Pulses of light are an old and effective means for humans to signal humans. Could the same be true for other civilizations? Could distant worlds be signaling other sentient species with light flashes?

From the earliest days of SETI, scientists have been "on the look out" for signaling technology that would be detectable across interstellar distances. The first lasers stirred interest, but researchers soon realized that they were too weak for effective communication between star systems. Attention focused on the radio portion of the electro-magnetic spectrum, which seemed to offer the most efficient signaling medium.

This thinking dominated the SETI community until the late 1990s, when Nobel laureate (and SETI Institute Board of Trustee), Dr. Charles Townes reported upon advances in laser technology at the SETI Science and Technology Working Group (SSTWG), a panel convened by the Institute to chart the future of SETI science. Finally, lasers powerful enough to send a flash of light across the cosmic void were being deployed (for more prosaic purposes) right here on Earth.

In a recent interview, Drs. Frank Drake and Seth Shostak of the SETI Institute recalled the blossoming of OSETI in the wake of Townes' report, discussed the Institute's OSETI project at Lick Observatory and speculated about the future of the field.

Drake remembers the moment that "the light came on" about OSETI at the SSTWG. "Two people immediately began working on OSETI projects, and within months they had primitive OSETI detectors working," he explained, referring to Drs. Paul Horowitz of Harvard and Dan Werthimer of the University of California, Berkeley. "There was a learning curve. Early detectors produced lots of false alarms which slowed things down and left observers with uncertain results."

OSETI and the SETI Institute

After about a year of observing the Berkeley and Harvard experiences with OSETI, Drake conferred with Lick Observatory Director, Remington Stone. "Rem Stone and I got together and decided that we should really do an Optical SETI Project," he recalls. "Dan Werthimer developed the instrumentation and we used Lick's 40-inch Nickel Telescope," a resource that would otherwise remain idle.

Today Optical SETI programs, including the Institute's Lick effort, are deployed at five locations: Lick, Harvard, Princeton, the University of California, Berkeley, and in Australia at the University of Western Sydney. While the Institute's program at Lick was not the earliest program-Harvard's carries this distinction-it was the first program to successfully observe and achieve meaningful, conclusive data using a single site. Early optical SETI observations persistently yielded a detection rate sufficiently high to render data meaningless. Harvard scientists addressed this problem by switching to a two-site (Princeton's observatory is the second site) program, and Harvard continues to cooperate with Princeton in the OSETI effort.

Reducing False Positives

As is the case with any new endeavor, "OSETI" researchers had a learning curve. During the year between the launches of the Harvard, Berkeley and Lick projects, the astronomers realized that the addition of third photo-multiplier tube would dramatically reduce the rate of false positives from one occurrence each observing session, to a single spurious result per year. Starlight, cosmic rays, muon showers, and radioactive decays in the glass of photomultiplier tubes can all contribute confusing "events" to optical SETI searches, however, using three photomultipliers reduces the likelihood that all of the tubes will be hit by photons within the billionth of a second time frame that characterizes the pulse of a deliberate laser signal.

Deploying three photo-multiplier tubes, the Institute's program at Lick gained an immediate advantage over the earlier projects. Use of three photo-multiplier tubes is a technique that has been successfully adopted by the search conducted at the University of California. This technique will be adopted by the Harvard program as well during a future program upgrade. Iowa State is currently establishing an OSETI program that will also use the triple photo-multiplier technique.

Since the Lick Observatory project launch on July 9, 2001, it has observed over 3,900 target stars, an impressive figure when one compares this progress to that of Project Phoenix, which should complete scrutiny of the 1,000 stars on its target list during two final observation sessions this fall and next spring (2004).

Greater access to telescope time and a simpler search strategy make an enormous difference, Drake notes. And, he adds "being able to actually see the target star while observing is a thrill," that radio astronomers lack when conducting SETI observations.

Amateur Optical SETI

While it wouldn't be quite true to say "anyone can do SETI," it would be true to say that anyone with the right backyard telescope and special equipment can conduct OSETI observations. This is the conclusion of Dr. Seth Shostak, for whom OSETI has offered an opportunity for the kind of creative thinking that is most rewarding to the SETI Institute Senior Astronomer.

Realizing that OSETI assumes civilizations sending optical signals will briefly flash a huge number a targets, Shostak points out that ideally, OSETI needs "lots of telescopes" looking at "lots of stars, all the time." The backyard telescope may therefore prove to be a critical OSETI tool, a prospect Shostak finds compelling.

"There are always new ideas in SETI," notes Shostak. Because the field evolves in tandem with the evolution of our communication technology, new ideas will keep the field fresh and exciting for quite some time to come. Optical SETI stands as a reminder of human innovation, as we seek beyond our planet for evidence of other minds on other worlds.

---

me@rescam.org

Friends of PlanetQuest Newsletter Vol 1, No 1

**PlanetQuest Mission: To inspire the people of the world with the thrill of individual discovery, a better understanding of our uniquely precious planet, and a wider perspective on our place in the universe.**

Dear Friends,

Welcome to our first Friends of PlanetQuest Newsletter. We'd first like to thank you for showing interest in what we're doing. It's taken the PlanetQuest team a long time to get this place, and we'll certainly appreciate your support as we build the most exciting science project on the planet.

Our aim is to send this short informal newsletter to you about once a month. The purpose is to let you know what we've accomplished, what we're working on, and how you can get involved.

Et une petite note à nos Amis francophones: Bienvenu, bienvenu à vous! Nos excuses que nous ne sommes pas capable de produire un bulletin d'informations bilingue chaque mois, mais soit assuré que nous pensons à vous! Plus, vos euros donnés valent de plus en plus ici, comment triste...
===================================

**News!**

$408m Kepler Mission Adopts Our TDA
Yup, it's true: NASA will be using a customized version of our Transit Detection Algorithm, optimized for space-borne observing, as its sole method of locating new planets. Dr. Jon Jenkins, who worked with PlanetQuest co-founder Dr. Laurance Doyle in the late 1990s to develop the original photometric transit detection algorithms and who continues as our own TDA expert, is the lead signal detection specialist and a coinvestigator on the Kepler mission. Jon is continuing to create the best ground-based algorithms available, and we're lucky to have him on our team.

PlanetQuest Public Web Launched
In December, we launched a basic public website to tell the world who we are and what we're doing. You probably know this already if you're reading this newsletter. We're constantly making improvements as we go, and we thought we'd let you know what's in store in the coming months:

o A Flash demo of the coming PlanetQuest Collaboratory - you'll get to see how the parts work together in an interactive mockup. This is a preview of next generation distributed computing at its best.

o Lots and lots of education content. This will be a major focus for us - posting interactive ways that you can learn about science, astrophysics, global histories of astronomy (yes, there's more than one), and math.

o More information on our telescopes, including news about the Crossley telescope upgrades, for example

World-Changing Science - Your Help Required
If you subscribe to this Newsletter, you probably have some idea of what PlanetQuest will accomplish. Think of it, though: in five years, we hope to have 20 million PlanetQuesters around the world, discovering literally hundreds of planets each year. Along the way, they'll learn not only a great deal about science and math, but also that each little PlanetQuester is a vital part of our own world community and connected to the larger universe. This is public science in every possible way; when you discover something out there - your name goes down in our PQ catalogs and in astronomical history. Every PlanetQuest participant is doing real science and contributing to our global effort to learn more about our universe. The resulting science, like the universe, belongs to everyone - not just professional scientists.

*But we your financial support to launch this global effort.* We just recently added an easy way to donate to PQ: just hit the "Donate!" link at the top of any page. Yes, for the price of two small hot chocolates per month, you can help us build PlanetQuest into the world-changing organization! We are a registered 501(c)(3) US nonprofit charitable organization, so your donations are completely tax-deductible.
===================================

**Quote of the month**

"Astronomy is useful, because it raises us above ourselves; it is useful, because it is grand, ... it shows us how small is man's body, how great his mind. His intelligence can embrace the whole of this dazzling immensity in which his body is only an obscure point and enjoy its silent harmony... Thus we can attain self-insight, something which cannot cost us too dear, since this insight makes us great."

- Henri Poincaré, 1903
===================================

Best Wishes,

David Gutelius, Ph.D.
Executive Director and Co-founder

Laurance Doyle, Ph.D.
President and Co-founder

---

me@rescam.org

Everything you need to know about the upcoming PlanetQuest BOINC project!


Click the pic!

---

me@rescam.org

> Everything you need to know about the upcoming PlanetQuest BOINC
> project!
> Click the pic!
>
>
>
>
>

When will the PlanetQuest Project become a Full Fledged Live BOINC project that gathers BOINC Credits and all?

---

> When will the PlanetQuest Project become a Full Fledged Live BOINC project
> that gathers BOINC Credits and all?

Current Status: Development and Alpha Testing
They plan on public Beta testing this summer.

> > When will the PlanetQuest Project become a Full Fledged Live BOINC
> project
> > that gathers BOINC Credits and all?
>
> Current Status: Development and Alpha Testing
> They plan on public Beta testing this summer.
>

Cool! SETI and PlanetQuest look like they should Compliment each other well.

---

Wow. For months I've been wondering if / when another BOINC project would be released that "grabs" me as strongly as Seti does. For various reasons, Climate, Protien, and Eienstein just didn't seem all that interesting. But Planetquest...THIS is what I'm talking about!

---

You will be assimilated...bunghole!

> Everything you need to know about the upcoming PlanetQuest BOINC project!
Click the pic!

Cool link, Misfit, but why the adult check? LOL!
I mean, I've heard of naked space, but... :)

---