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Planet Protocol helps NASA discover new planets

Posted at 7:30 AM, Oct 02, 2020
and last updated 2020-10-02 10:40:04-04

You don't have to be a NASA scientist to help discover new planets.

NASA has launched a website called Planet Patrol.

Members of the public can collaborate with astronomers to hunt for new worlds.

They'll be sorting through images collected by NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, also called TESS.

Over the course of a year, TESS captured hundreds of thousands of snapshots, but its too many for scientists to examine without help.

That's where the volunteers come in.

They'll answer questionnaires as they sift through images to help researchers narrow down the list of potential planets.