USQ scientist joins new search for Earth-like planets

A USQ academic will join an international team of scientists in Chile mid-April to search for potentially habitable planets in the universe.

USQ Senior Lecturer in Physics Dr Brad Carter said the team would collaborate to scan for Earth-like planets around red dwarf stars using a powerful Magellan 6.5m Clay telescope.

'This research has some bearing on the question of what type of potentially habitable planets exist throughout the universe,' Dr Carter said.

'Our aim is to detect rocky planets orbiting nearby cool stars as part of a larger planet-hunting survey with Magellan and other telescopes.

'Nearby rocky planets are of particular interest due to their relevance to the quest for habitable worlds, and a radial velocity survey with Magellan’s dedicated Planet Finder Spectrograph should detect them.'

The Carnegie Planet Finder Spectrograph (PFS) searches for extrasolar planets with the 6.5 metre Magellan II Telescope at Las Campanas Observatory in Chile. It detects exoplanets through their gravitational influence on their host stars.

'Our team includes collaborators with a strong track record of rocky planet discoveries using other telescopes,' he said. 'Magellan’s advanced technology will enable us to make these precise high-cadence observations.'

Dr Carter said in Australia, team members were leading the effort to quantify the distribution of rocky planets from the Anglo-Australian Planet Search, and would soon include Magellan data.