Australian Backyard Astronomers Achieve World-First Planetary Discovery Through ‘Blips

Have you ever stopped to imagine encountering something you once believed was impossible?

In 2021, this very scenario played out for a trio of backyard astronomers—Jonathan Bradshaw, Renato Langersek, and John Broughton—whose groundbreaking discovery sent ripples through the astronomical community.

These Australian enthusiasts became the first amateur astronomers to identify a planetary ring, a feat previously thought to be beyond the reach of non-professionals.

In recognition of their persistent efforts and remarkable findings, the trio was honored this year with the highest national award in amateur astronomy.

Amid the global anticipation surrounding the Artemis II mission to the moon, the trio shared their insights with SBS News, highlighting the vital role amateur astronomers play in the field of space exploration.

Stargazing brings people together

Jonathan Bradshaw, a lifelong astronomy enthusiast, reflected on his journey in the stars.

The first time he ever saw through a telescope was at the Port Macquarie Observatory in 1975. But it wasn’t until he moved from the UK to Australia, in 2004, that he started pursuing his self-funded astronomy career.

Previously, Jonathan was the President of the Astronomical Association of Queensland but currently serves as the President of the Coffs Harbour Astronomical Society.

His life-long interest in astronomy has led him to meeting his partners in discovering a planetary ring around Quaoar.

Quaoar is a dwarf planet in the Kuiper belt, that is understood to be roughly half the size of Pluto. It was originally discovered in 2002 by astronomers at the California Institute of Technology.

In 2021, Jonathan, Renato and John were in separate cities across Southeast Queensland where they were all watching as Quaoar passed in front of a distant star.

Initially, the three were looking through their telescopes for an occultation observation, which is when an object goes in front of a star and that star casts a shadow the size of an object onto the Earth’s surface. However, the group understood that they weren’t in the right position for the shadow path.

They thought they might be able to find another moon on Quaoar but ended up finding something extraordinary.

All three registered “blips” in their data that corresponded, and when they discussed this finding with each other, realised that their observations made a straight line. Prior to their discovery, Jonathan explained that while professional astronomers had pre-discovery data, no one had been looking.

This is because, the planetary ring shouldn’t have been there.

“We instantly knew that we discovered a ring, and we instantly knew it was in the wrong place, and that’s what made the whole thing really, really valuable scientifically,” said Jonathan.

Finding meaning in flickers of light

Like Jonathan, Chris Stockdale’s passion for astronomy started when he was young.

He grew up in South Gippsland, where the skies were dark and his father would wake him up during the night to go outside and look up at the stars.

One of his earliest memories is of Apollo 11 in 1969, and how his former principal took him and other students to his house to watch the moon landing.

“I thought it was pretty cool, and I replayed it that night,” he recalled.

In 1985, Chris purchased his first real telescope and hasn’t looked away from the night sky since.

Chris was another recipient of this year’s Berenice and Arthur Page Medal, which recognises the contributions that people like him make to astronomy.

The backyard astronomer co-discovered an ‘ultra-hot Neptune’, several potential Earth-like planets, and four ‘super-Jupiters’, which are exoplanets known for being gas giants — their name comes from the fact that they are more than two times the mass of Jupiter.

According to NASA, an exoplanet is any planet that is located outside of our solar system. To date, there are more than 6,000 exoplanets confirmed and over 4,500 surrounding stars.

In his monitoring of exoplanets, Chris looks for “dips in light”, which are planets that orbit distant stars that pass between us and “their sun”. Chris is able to analyse data as small as a one per cent drop in brightness in the appearance of stars that are hundreds of light years away.

Making sense of the universe

Since 2018, Chris has checked the work of NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), which so-far has identified nearly 8,000 exoplanets. He checks this by using his own telescope to validate potential planets so that the NASA-owned James Webb Space Telescope can take a closer look, searching for evidence of an Earth-like atmosphere.

Learning about the potential implications exoplanets have on our solar system, such as how asteroids interact with other bodies and where they are most likely to be found, can help astronomers better understand the risk they can pose to Earth, Chris explained.

“I think it’s useful to understand how the universe works, and you can’t do that from just observing one thing. You actually need a bigger experience, and it’s like sort of walking into a forest, and you just see one tree, and you know about that tree, but you don’t really know about the 2,000 others that are around, and how they came to be, and I think it’s important to get that breadth of knowledge.”

The Berenice and Arthur Page Medal, given to the three, was inaugurated by the Astronomical Society of Australia (ASA) in 1972 in memory of beloved amateur astronomers, Berenice and Arthur Page.

Every two years, it recognises the excellence in amateur astronomy in Australia and its territories.

One of the people who awards this honour is Dr Tanya Hill, the Senior Curator of Astronomy for Museums Victoria and the Prizes and Awards Coordinator for the Astronomical Society of Australia.

To Tanya, the Page Medal is special because it goes beyond the main work and looks at how amateur astronomists are advancing science and taking it to the next level.

“The great work that they’re doing is really being advocates for astronomy and helping to foster a love of the night sky and putting telescopes out so the public can view things.”

“It’s also lovely to be able to recognise these fantastic amateurs who are using their spare time to enjoy the universe and try and understand some of some mysteries and help us advance our knowledge of what we’re aware of.”

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