The Sizes of Distant Planets
In March 2009, NASA launched the Kepler space telescope to monitor the brightness of more than 150,000 stars like the Sun for evidence of planets like the Earth. The Pale Blue Dot project supports the research efforts of the Kepler Asteroseismic Science Operations Center (KASOC), an international collaboration of astronomers who do not get funding from NASA. The KASOC team determines the true sizes of the planets discovered by the Kepler mission by measuring the physical sizes of the host stars using a technique similar to seismology.
Project Goal
The KASOC team is analyzing detailed observations of 25 planet-hosting stars from Kepler. The method that Kepler uses to discover planets only reveals the size of the planet relative to the size of its star. We are now seeking funds for the data analysis to measure the physical sizes of these 25 stars, yielding the absolute sizes of the planets. Initial estimates suggest that some of these planets are as small as the Earth, and they orbit their stars at the right distance for liquid water to exist, and possibly to sustain life.
How You Can Help
The computing resources and time required to perform the analysis for each star costs $1000, so our funding goal is $25,000 to measure the sizes of all 25 planet-hosting stars. You can support the project at four different levels:
(1) For a $10 donation you will receive a personalized "Certificate of Adoption" by email for one of the 150,000 stars being monitored by the Kepler mission.
(2) For a $25 donation you can adopt one of the 2326 candidate planet-hosting stars discovered by the Kepler mission.
(3) For a $100 donation, you can adopt one of the hundreds of stars that have already been confirmed to host a planet, and you will be acknowledged on a special section of our website.
(4) For a $1000 donation, you can sponsor the complete analysis for one of the 25 planet-hosting stars in this project, and your name or business will be acknowledged in the resulting scientific publication.
All funding is collected through a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization to support our scientific research, so your donation is fully tax-deductible.
Tell your Friends
Whether or not you decide to donate, you can support this project by clicking the "like" button on this page or on our website and by telling your friends about it. Most people who hear about the Pale Blue Dot project are excited by the opportunity to support cutting-edge science and the characterization of distant solar systems similar to our own. We just need your help to get the word out.
Documents below: Certificate of Adoption sample, Borucki et al. paper on Kepler-22 (habitable Earth-like planet) on which we appear as coauthors, and IRS tax-exempt determination letter for White Dwarf Research Corporation.