Stars put up for adoption to fund exoplanet research

Hard-up astronomers are raising funds for research by selling the stars.

A nonprofit organisation has started an adopt-a-star programme to raise money for an international research consortium to analyse data from NASA's planet-hunting Kepler mission.

The programme, which is not affiliated with NASA, is called "Pale Blue Dot" to echo Carl Sagan's description of Earth as seen from space. It encourages donors to pick one of 100,000 stars in Kepler's field of view that show promise for hosting planets.

For $10, you – and you alone – can plant your personal flag in that star on Google Sky. As Kepler makes new discoveries, you will get email updates about your star and its potential planets.

"There are plenty of phony name-a-star things on the web, but I think we were the first scientists to use this sort of model for fundraising, and as a public outreach tool," says project leader Travis Metcalfe of the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado. "We're trying to educate people about what the Kepler mission does, and to get them excited about the quest for other Earths."