The Planet Hunters

Recommended QUEST Resources

• Discuss the The Planet Hunters TV story

  Discuss the The Planet Hunters story on the KQED QUEST Science Blog.

• SETI: The New Search for ET

  Is anyone out there? For over 40 years scientists have been searching for extraterrestrial intelligence, but they've found nothing. Now the new Allen Telescope Array, a string of 350 radio telescopes, is being built 300 miles north of San Francisco and is breathing new life into the search.

• Amateur Astronomers

  Some of the most passionate astronomers don't even need to leave their own backyards. QUEST meets the amateur stargazers in the Bay Area who are making important observations about the cosmos and inventing tools at home to do it.

• Exoplanets

  Since 1995, astronomers have identified more than 200 new planets, but these planets aren't in our solar system. Known as exoplanets, they're the planets orbiting other suns and Bay Area scientists are leading the search. QUEST reports on some of the latest efforts to find new planets-- and maybe even life-- in outer space.

Additional Links

• Chabot Space & Science Center

  Chabot Space & Science Center (CSSC) inspires and educates students of all ages about our Planet Earth and the Universe. Its observatory, planetarium, exhibits, and natural park setting are a place where a diverse population of students, teachers, and the public can imagine, understand, and learn to shape their future through science.

• Lawrence Hall of Science, University of California, Berkeley

  Lawrence Hall of Science (LHS) is a singular resource center for preschool through high school science and mathematics education, and a public science center with exciting hands-on experiences for learners of all ages.

• East Bay Regional Park District

  From sunlit shores to shade-covered hillsides, the East Bay Regional Park District spans more than 97,000 acres in Alameda and Contra Costa Counties, offering experiences as diverse as the land itself. Our mission is to provide recreational opportunities, ensure the natural beauty of the land, and to protect wildlife habitat.

• The Kepler Mission - NASA Discovery

  The Kepler Mission is specifically designed to survey our region of the Milky Way galaxy to detect and characterize hundreds of Earth-size and smaller planets in or near the habitable zone. The habitable zone encompasses the distances from a star where liquid water can exist on a planet's surface. Results from this mission will allow us to place our solar system within the continuum of planetary systems in the Galaxy.

• Astro-Venture

  Search for and design a habitable planet with Astro-Venture.