The MEarth Project is a United States NSF

National Science Foundation

The National Science Foundation is a United States government agency that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National Institutes of Health...

-funded, robotic observatory that is part of Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory

Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory

The Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory is an astronomical observatory owned and operated by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory and is their largest field installation outside of their main site in Cambridge, MA...

 on Mt. Hopkins, Arizona, USA. The project monitors the brightness of thousands of red dwarf

Red dwarf

According to the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram, a red dwarf star is a small and relatively cool star, of the main sequence, either late K or M spectral type....

 stars with the goal of finding transiting planets. MEarth consists of eight RC Optical Systems

RC Optical Systems

RC Optical Systems is a high-end American telescope and optics manufacturer that specializes in Ritchey-Chrétien telescopes with hyperbolic mirrors. RC also makes related mounts and systems for the telescopes, with a focus on open and closed carbon fiber trusses for low expansion...

 40 cm (15.7 in) f/9 Ritchey-Chrétien telescope

Ritchey-Chrétien telescope

A Ritchey–Chrétien telescope is a specialized Cassegrain telescope designed to eliminate coma, thus providing a large field of view compared to a more conventional configuration. An RCT has a hyperbolic primary and a hyperbolic secondary mirror. It was invented in the early 1910s by American...

s (on Paramount ME robotic mounts) paired with commercially available cameras with 2048 × 2048 Apogee U42 CCDs.

External links

• MEarth Project Page