PlanetQuest
Encyclopedia
PlanetQuest is a grid computing
project for discovering new planets and classifying stars from Earth-based observatories' images.
To search for new planets, PlanetQuest developed the Transit Detection Algorithm (TDA), photometric (light-measuring) method, which can automatically detect new planets, using the optical information from ground-based telescopes. The TDA has also been adapted for use in NASA's
Kepler Mission
. Some of the data gathered from Kepler will be processed by PlanetQuest.
Those working with PlanetQuest are encouraged to participate in the project's discussion group hosted by Google, where members are able to get project updates, work together to advance the project's goals, find support, and learn how to best make use of the BOINC software on their systems or networks.
Note: The PlanetQuest website has not been updated since 2006.
Grid computing
Grid computing is a term referring to the combination of computer resources from multiple administrative domains to reach a common goal. The grid can be thought of as a distributed system with non-interactive workloads that involve a large number of files...
project for discovering new planets and classifying stars from Earth-based observatories' images.
Overview
The PlanetQuest project is currently still under development, and will utilize the BOINC (Berkeley Open Infrastructure for Network Computing) platform.To search for new planets, PlanetQuest developed the Transit Detection Algorithm (TDA), photometric (light-measuring) method, which can automatically detect new planets, using the optical information from ground-based telescopes. The TDA has also been adapted for use in NASA's
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
Kepler Mission
Kepler Mission
The Kepler spacecraft is an American space observatory, the space-based portion of NASA's Kepler Mission to discover Earth-like planets orbiting other stars. The spacecraft is named in honor of the 17th-century German astronomer Johannes Kepler...
. Some of the data gathered from Kepler will be processed by PlanetQuest.
Those working with PlanetQuest are encouraged to participate in the project's discussion group hosted by Google, where members are able to get project updates, work together to advance the project's goals, find support, and learn how to best make use of the BOINC software on their systems or networks.
Note: The PlanetQuest website has not been updated since 2006.
See also
- Transit detection method
- Distributed computingDistributed computingDistributed computing is a field of computer science that studies distributed systems. A distributed system consists of multiple autonomous computers that communicate through a computer network. The computers interact with each other in order to achieve a common goal...
- List of distributed computing projects
- BOINC (Berkeley Open Infrastructure for Network Computing)Berkeley Open Infrastructure for Network ComputingThe Berkeley Open Infrastructure for Network Computing is an open source middleware system for volunteer and grid computing. It was originally developed to support the SETI@home project before it became useful as a platform for other distributed applications in areas as diverse as mathematics,...