Projects
Catalog of Exoplanets
The Planetary Society is currently funding the most successful Extra Solar Planets discovery team in the world to analyze mounds of data to create the first scientifically published complete catalog of Extra Solar Planets. This catalog will also be placed on the Planetary Society's web site as a resource for scientists, amateur astronomers, educators, and students.
Over 150 planets have been discovered outside our solar system. These extra solar planets, also known as exoplanets, are revolutionizing our understanding of solar system formation and humanity's place in the Cosmos. Only about a decade ago, none of them were known to exist.
Almost two-thirds of these have been discovered by a group that has included Geoff Marcy at UC Berkeley, Paul Butler of the Carnegie Institution, Steven Vogt, and Debra Fischer of San Francisco State. They have discovered these using the radial velocity method, detecting the wobbles in stars caused by planets orbiting them. As they have been discovering new planets, they have also for several years continued to obtain observations of all the known exoplanets, including those discovered by other planet hunters.
The Planetary Society is supporting their analysis of those data to determine more accurate masses and orbits for all currently known exoplanets. Gathering data over time is very helpful for going beyond the initial discovery, to really define the masses and orbits of these fascinating worlds. When, complete, Marcy's team will produce a complete, scientifically up-to-date, catalog of extra solar planets.
In the next few months, look here for The Planetary Society to debut this catalog for the public. It will be a resource available to professionals, amateurs, teachers, students, and the general public. It will be scientifically reviewed for accuracy, and new planets and modifications to our knowledge of existing planets will be continue to be added to keep it up-to-date.
|
[ what is this? ]