An army of davids
In this article, astronomer Peter McCullough has put together a system using a large number of cheap telescopes, and this system has discovered a Jupiter-sized planet orbiting a nearby star.
To find XO-1b, the team built their telescope, which they call the XO prototype telescope, from two commercially available 200-millimeter telephoto camera lenses. The setup, which resembles a pair of high-powered binoculars, is mounted on the summit of the Haleakala volcano in Hawaii.
The XO prototype telescope cost about $60,000, which is far less than the many millions spent on typical professional observatories.
There is still much to be learned about XO-1b, including whether it shares its star with other planets.
“By timing the planet’s passages across the star, both amateur and professional astronomers might be lucky enough to detect the presence of another planet in the XO-1 system by its gravitational tugs on XO-1b,” McCullough said. “It’s even possible that such a planet could be similar to Earth.”
So what we have here is a case where an army of low-powered analysts manages to do the kind of work we’re used to seeing high-powered, expensive systems required for.
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