Ohio State nav bar

The Odd Couple: Ohio State Astronomers' New Pair of Planets Breaks Rules

June 25, 2012

The Odd Couple: Ohio State Astronomers' New Pair of Planets Breaks Rules

 

Planet-hunting requires infinite patience, a passion for discovery bordering on the obsessive-compulsive, really good math skills, sophisticated telescopes costing millions of dollars—and, of course, an abnormal amount of luck.

In the case of Ohio State astronomy PhD candidate Thomas Beatty, his advisor Astronomy Associate Professor Scott Gaudi, and colleagues at the Vanderbilt Initiative in Data-Intensive Astrophysics, all of the above was true, except for the part about expensive equipment.

Using KELT, the "Kilodegree Extremely Little Telescope", located at a small private observatory in southern Arizona, the KELT team has discovered not one, but two very unusual planets in far-away solar systems.

View the Full Article.