Discovery of Super-Earth Planet (Image 1)
May 10, 2012
The MEarth Project telescopes at Mount Hopkins, Ariz. Astronomers used these telescopes to discover a super-Earth orbiting GJ1214, a dim, red dwarf star located 40 light-years away.
MEarth (pronounced "mirth") is an array of eight identical 16 inch-diameter RC Optical Systems telescopes that monitor a preselected list of 2,000 red dwarf stars. Each telescope perches on a highly accurate Software Bisque Paramount and funnels light to an Apogee U42 charged-coupled device chip, that many amateurs also use.
Credit: Dan Brocious, Harvard-Smithsonian CfA
