The business end of planet-hunting

Telescopes can produce spectacular images of objects in the sky. But in reality the astronomer's primary tool is a complex scientific instrument that requires sophisticated computer systems to control it and to gather the precious data from the target objects. The astronomer's view of what the telescope is doing is confined to a series of computer monitors, displaying the status of the telescope and its instruments. If you look very carefully at the screen on the right, you may be able to see that it shows that ESO's 3.6-m telescope at La Silla is observing the star Proxima Centauri, using the HARPS instrument. This is the Pale Red Dot campaign, in which astronomers are using this telescope to search for evidence of an Earth-like planet in orbit around Proxima Centauri.

Pale Red Dot is an international search for an Earth-like exoplanet around the closest star to us, Proxima Centauri. It will use HARPS, attached to the ESO 3.6-metre telescope at La Silla Observatory, as well as the Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope Network (LCOGT) and the Burst Optical Observer and Transient Exploring System (BOOTES). The public will see how teams of astronomers with different specialities work together to collect, analyse and interpret data, which may or may not be able to confirm the presence of an Earth-like planet orbiting our nearest neighbour. The outreach campaign consists of blog posts and social media updates on the Pale Red Dot Twitter account and using the hashtag #PaleRedDot. For more information visit the Pale Red Dot website: http://www.palereddot.org