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Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Stories I love: Amateur finds planets

Peter Jalowiczor isn't an astronomer - just a British utility worker with dedication and ingenuity. Using two personal computers to chunk through four years of information collected and released by the University of California's Lick-Carnegie Planet Search Team in faraway California.
The result: Four new exoplanets have been discovered. As he explains the technique:
"I look for faint changes in stars' behaviors that can only be caused by a planet or planets orbiting about them. Once I identify likely candidates, I send the details back to Santa Cruz."
COMMENT: Even in the high-tech world, the amateur explorer still matters.

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