27 September 2002

Amateur Astronomers Needed For Night Watch

LONDON (Reuters) - Amateur astronomers around the globe are being enlisted to help the professionals monitor stars with planets orbiting around them.

Astronomers in the United States have set up a program to co-ordinate the efforts of experienced amateurs in discovering transiting extra-solar planets.

"They want amateurs to sign up to a program called Transitsearch to spur the discovery of planets that pass between us and their parent stars," New Scientist magazine said on Wednesday.

The program was set up by Tim Castellano of NASA ( news - web sites) Ames Research Center and Greg Laughlin of the University of California, Santa Cruz after they learned that a Finnish amateur astronomer had charted the path of a planet across the star HD 209458.

"They are now searching for amateurs worldwide to monitor stars already known to have planets orbiting them, and have posted a list of target stars and predicted transit times at www.transitsearch.org," the magazine added.

The scientists are hoping the transit information will provide data about a planet's mass and density and its composition and atmosphere.

"Collaborations between professional and amateur astronomers aren't new, but they're growing because of the falling cost of high-quality equipment now within the reach of many amateurs," the magazine said.