Join the worldwide Unistellar Network of citizen scientists and professional astronomers to discover and characterize some of the most interesting exoplanets in our galaxy!

This is where you and UNITE come in! Only a network of people around the world, cooperating to observe the same target, will be able to catch more transits by these exoplanets.

This can be because these planets take many hours to transit their star (much longer than a single night on Earth) or because the dates of future transits cannot yet be accurately predicted. With your observations, scientists can understand the orbits and conditions of these foreign worlds like never before.

Explore below to learn about exoplanets or get started tonight!

TOI 5571.01

A detection of TOI 5571.01 from three Citizen Astronomers’ observations during the last expected transit of this planet.

Observation dates: January 7-8

Visibility: North America, Europe, Africa

Deeplink

Help us confirm a planet candidate!

TOI 5571.01 is a Jupiter-sized planet candidate found by TESS nearly 1,000 light years away. Since TESS only saw two transits (in 2020 and 2022), we don’t yet know its true orbital period—there are several “period aliases” to test. Thanks to a observations from multiple Unistellar observers, we may have narrowed down the period, but we’re still gathering data on this target. And this month, there is an expected transit of this target! Observing this month is crucial: this is our last chance to observe a known transit of TOI 5571.01 for the next two years! Because the transit is so shallow, every observation counts!

Click for more information on this mission

In August 2022, 24 UNITE Citizen Astronomers from around the world joined forces to track TOI-4465 b, a massive Jupiter-like planet about 400 light-years away. First spotted as a single transit in TESS data, its orbit was uncertain until this global campaign gathered 46 datasets across three nights, confirming that the planet circles its Sun-like star every 102 days. TOI-4465 b is unusually dense—six times Jupiter’s mass but only slightly larger—and represents a rare “temperate Jupiter,” offering astronomers a valuable new world to study. All observers are co-authors on the scientific paper detailing these results, led by Dr. Zahra Essack at the University of New Mexico, which you can read here: https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-3881/add88b

Don’t have a Unistellar telescope? Here’s how you can still be part of the UNITE mission.

• If you have a different telescope + camera setup capable of recording images, our target predictions also apply to you! We invite you to observe them with us; however, we cannot process your data. For how to do that yourself, we recommend you visit the NASA Exoplanet Watch website and email Lauren Sgro at Lsgro@seti.org with your data or questions. You might also want to check out the TESS Follow-up Observing Program and American Association of Variable Star Observers, with whom we collaborate.
• If you don’t have an imaging telescope:
  • Follow our latest news on the SETI Institute’s website & social media: Twitter, Instagram, Facebook
  • Check in monthly with our Results page for updates on our priority exoplanet targets
  • Community College students, professors, and friends: Ask if your college has a Unistellar telescope through the Unistellar College Astronomy Network (UCAN). If not, have the college’s astronomy professor contact UCAN’s director, Ian Weaver (iweaver@seti.org), to inquire about joining.
  • Check out some of the other exciting citizen science projects supported by NASA!

Meet the SETI Institute scientists behind the Unistellar Network’s NASA-Sponsored Exoplanet Programs:

Tom Esposito, PhD – UNITE Principal Investigator, Pipeline Development
Lauren Sgro, PhD – Exoplanets Lead, Observation Planning, Data Analysis, Communications
Franck Marchis, PhD – Outreach, Communications

Previous contributors – Dr. Paul Dalba, Dr. Daniel Peluso