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Stargazing viewer in planet coup | Stargazing viewer in planet coup |
(about 2 hours later) | |
By Jonathan Amos Science correspondent, BBC News | By Jonathan Amos Science correspondent, BBC News |
The public push initiated on BBC Two's Stargazing Live series to find planets beyond our Solar System has had an immediate result. | The public push initiated on BBC Two's Stargazing Live series to find planets beyond our Solar System has had an immediate result. |
A viewer who answered the call has helped spot a world that appears to be circling a star dubbed SPH10066540. | A viewer who answered the call has helped spot a world that appears to be circling a star dubbed SPH10066540. |
The planet is described as being similar in size to our Neptune and circles its parent every 90 days. | The planet is described as being similar in size to our Neptune and circles its parent every 90 days. |
Chris Holmes from Peterborough found it by looking through time-lapsed images of stars on Planethunters.org. | Chris Holmes from Peterborough found it by looking through time-lapsed images of stars on Planethunters.org. |
The website hosts data gathered by Nasa's Kepler space telescope, and asks volunteers to sift the information for anything unusual that might have been missed in a computer search. | The website hosts data gathered by Nasa's Kepler space telescope, and asks volunteers to sift the information for anything unusual that might have been missed in a computer search. |
"I've never had a telescope. I've had a passing interest in where things are in the sky, but never had any more knowledge about it than that," Mr Holmes told BBC News. | "I've never had a telescope. I've had a passing interest in where things are in the sky, but never had any more knowledge about it than that," Mr Holmes told BBC News. |
"Being involved in a project like this and actually being the one to find something is a very exciting position." | "Being involved in a project like this and actually being the one to find something is a very exciting position." |
Chris Lintott from Oxford University who helps organise Planethunters.org added: "We're ecstatic. We've been groaning under the strain of all these people who want to help us, which is exactly how it should be." | Chris Lintott from Oxford University who helps organise Planethunters.org added: "We're ecstatic. We've been groaning under the strain of all these people who want to help us, which is exactly how it should be." |
The public participation project was launched last year, but it got a huge fillip when it was featured in the popular Stargazing series' return to BBC Two on Monday. | The public participation project was launched last year, but it got a huge fillip when it was featured in the popular Stargazing series' return to BBC Two on Monday. |
Volunteers have tripled to more than 100,000 people, and the number of images inspected has now reached a million. | Volunteers have tripled to more than 100,000 people, and the number of images inspected has now reached a million. |
The new planet candidate's status will need more checking, but it looks strong, said Dr Lintott. | The new planet candidate's status will need more checking, but it looks strong, said Dr Lintott. |
"It would be our fifth detection since we started and our first British one as well," he added. | "It would be our fifth detection since we started and our first British one as well," he added. |
The Kepler space telescope, launched in 2009, has been searching a part of space thought to have many stars similar to our own Sun. | The Kepler space telescope, launched in 2009, has been searching a part of space thought to have many stars similar to our own Sun. |
It looks for the periodic dip in light that results every time a planet passes in front of one of those stars. | It looks for the periodic dip in light that results every time a planet passes in front of one of those stars. |
These so-called transits have to be observed several times before a planet will be confirmed. For the orange dwarf star SPH10066540, five such events have now been seen in the Kepler data. | |
Mr Holmes found a pass; the Planethunters team then looked deeper into the Kepler archive and found it had made other transits before and after. | Mr Holmes found a pass; the Planethunters team then looked deeper into the Kepler archive and found it had made other transits before and after. |
The candidate has a radius about 3.8 times that of Earth, and orbits its parent star at a distance of 55 million km - a separation similar to that between Mercury and our Sun. | The candidate has a radius about 3.8 times that of Earth, and orbits its parent star at a distance of 55 million km - a separation similar to that between Mercury and our Sun. |
This means the planet is probably too hot to support life. | This means the planet is probably too hot to support life. |
"Kepler is trying to answer the question: 'how many planets are there in our Milky Way Galaxy?'" explained Dr Lintott. | "Kepler is trying to answer the question: 'how many planets are there in our Milky Way Galaxy?'" explained Dr Lintott. |
"Now, you can build an algorithm to search through the data but the chances are it will have some systematics - it may be missing some things. Planethunters is the ultimate check. If the computers don't find the planets, the humans will; and it helps us to be sure that we're getting a true picture of the planet population in the Milky Way." | "Now, you can build an algorithm to search through the data but the chances are it will have some systematics - it may be missing some things. Planethunters is the ultimate check. If the computers don't find the planets, the humans will; and it helps us to be sure that we're getting a true picture of the planet population in the Milky Way." |
Jonathan.Amos-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk and follow me on Twitter | Jonathan.Amos-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk and follow me on Twitter |
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