XO Project

The XO Project is an international team of amateur and professional astronomers tasked with identifying extrasolar planets. They are led by Peter R. McCullough of the Space Telescope Science Institute. It is primarily funded by NASA's Origins Program and the Director's Discretionary Fund of the Space Telescope Science Institute.Astronomers Use Innovative Technique to Find Extrasolar Planet, HubbleSite

Duties

Preliminary identification of possible star candidates starts at the Haleakala telescope in Hawaii by a team of professional astronomers. Once they identify a star that dims slightly from time to time (the transit method), the information is forwarded to a team of amateur astronomers who then investigate for additional evidence suggesting this dimming is caused by a transiting planet. Once enough data is collected, it is forwarded to the University of Texas McDonald Observatory to confirm the presence of a transiting planet by a second team of professional astronomers.

Equipment McCullough and his team employed a relatively inexpensive telescope called the XO Telescope, made from commercial equipment, to search for extrasolar planets. The construction of the one-of-a-kind telescope cost $60,000 for the hardware, and much more than that for the associated software. The telescope consists of two 200-millimeter telephoto camera lenses, and resembles binoculars in shape. It is similar to the TrES survey telescope. It stands on the summit of the Haleakalā volcano and 3,054 m (10,000 foot) in Hawaii. Their first discovery of a Jupiter-sized planet orbiting a Sun-like star 600 light-years from Earth in the constellation Corona Borealis—XO-1b—was reported May 16, 2006 on Newswise.

In 2016 three similar double telescopes were operating, two in Spain and one in Utah.

Discoveries The XO telescope has discovered six objects so far, five are hot Jupiter planets and one, XO-3b, may be a brown dwarf.

Star Constellation Rightascension Declination App.mag. Distance (ly) Spectraltype Planet Mass() Radius() Orbitalperiod(d) Semimajoraxis(AU) Orbitaleccentricity Inclination(°) Discoveryyear Moldoveanu Corona Borealis 11.319 600 G1V Negoiu 0.9 1.3 3.941534 0.0488 0 87.7 2006 XO-2N Lynx 11.25 486 K0V XO-2Nb 0.57 0.973 2.615838 0.0369 0 88.58 2007 XO-3 Camelopardalis 9.91 850 F5V XO-3b 11.79 1.217 3.1915239 0.0454 0.26 84.2 2007 Koit Lynx 10.78 956 F5V Hämarik 1.72 1.34 4.12502 0.0555 0.0024 88.7 2008 Absolutno Lynx 12.1 881 G8V Makropulos 1.15 1.15 4.187732 0.0508 0.0029 86.8 2008 XO-6 Camelopardalis10.28760 F5V XO-6b 4.42.073.760.082086.0 2016XO-7Draco10.52763G0VXO-7b0.711.3732.86414240.044210.03883.452019

XO Project

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