Massachusetts High School Student Discovers New Planet During Astronomy Club Project
Here are the top 5 things you need to know about this:
- A 17-year-old student from a Boston-area high school in Massachusetts was analyzing data from the Kepler Space Telescope as part of an after-school astronomy club and identified a lost exoplanet previously missed by NASA algorithms. The planet, now named “Tempus-1” pending official review, orbits a dwarf star 1,200 light-years away.
- The discovery happened when the student noticed an irregular dip in light patterns that the computer models had dismissed as sensor noise. After manual verification with a local university’s observatory, the signal was confirmed as a transiting exoplanet roughly 1.5 times the size of Earth.
- The Massachusetts student’s work has led to a collaboration with MIT’s Planetary Science Lab, breaking a record for the youngest individual to submit a successful new exoplanet find for peer review. The project started as a simple curiosity during a free-period activity.
- This news has sparked a nationwide push in Massachusetts and beyond to expand astronomy and STEM programs in high schools, with educators pointing out how raw data from public archives can yield professional-grade results when combined with human curiosity.
- The planet is located in a habitable zone candidate region, making it a priority target for future James Webb Space Telescope follow-ups. The student’s name is being kept under wraps until the paper publishes, but sources say they plan to name the planet after their home state if given the option.