SETI Institute In the News 2025: July Roundup

Smart telescope users join forces to photograph the interstellar comet moving through our Solar System

A global network of amateur astronomers using Unistellar smart telescopes, including members of the SETI Institute’s citizen science community, has captured early images of interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS. Dr. Franck Marchis, Senior Astronomer at the SETI Institute and Chief Science Officer at Unistellar, noted this is only the third known interstellar object ever detected and emphasized the value of the early observation for enabling coordinated global observation efforts. By combining data from citizen scientists and professional observatories, researchers hope to learn more about the comet’s trajectory, composition, and behavior as it approaches the Sun.

Read the full article by BBC Sky at Night Magazine: Smart telescope users join forces to photograph the interstellar comet moving through our Solar System

Citizen scientists pinpoint 10,000 eclipsing star pairs

With help from thousands of volunteer stargazers, researchers have confirmed more than 10,000 eclipsing binary star systems, nearly 8,000 of them previously unknown. The discovery comes from the Eclipsing Binary Patrol, a citizen science project validating data from NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) mission. Dr. Veselin Kostov, a research scientist at NASA Goddard and the SETI Institute, co-led the study and emphasized the power of combining human effort with machine learning. The new catalog could guide future searches for exoplanets orbiting these rare and dynamic star systems.

The citizen science project is still recruiting participants. Want to be part of the search for eclipsing binaries? Join the team at https://bit.ly/eclipsingbinaries.

Read the full article by The Washington Post here: Citizen scientists pinpoint 10,000 eclipsing star pairs

Musk is messing with the Cosmic Dawn. Will alien hunters save the day for all mankind?

As concerns grow over radio interference from SpaceX’s expanding Starlink satellite constellation, the SETI Institute has partnered with SpaceX to to address the impact of satellite emissions on sensitive astronomical research. The collaboration comes amid reports from the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) team in Australia, who detected tens of thousands of unintended Starlink signals while testing for faint radio waves from the early universe. With the SETI Institute’s deep expertise in radio astronomy and advocacy for protecting the radio sky, this alliance aims to develop responsible engineering standards for an increasingly crowded orbit.

Read the full article by The Register here: Musk is messing with the Cosmic Dawn. Will alien hunters save the day for all mankind?

'Rare' planet like Jupiter discovered 400 light years away

An international network of amateur astronomers, working with the SETI Institute and Unistellar, helped confirm the existence of TOI-4465 b, a Jupiter-sized exoplanet located 400 light-years away. Orbiting its star every 102 days, this “temperate Jupiter” is in the rare category of long-period gas giants. Dr. Franck Marchis, Senior Astronomer at the SETI Institute, emphasized the value of bridging the gap between hot Jupiters and the cold giants in our own Solar System. The SETI-Unistellar collaboration proved vital in capturing the planet’s rare, 12-hour transit event.

Read the full article by The Mirror here: 'Rare' planet like Jupiter discovered 400 light years away