A new NASA-funded planet-hunting instrument has been installed on the WIYN telescope, on Arizona’s Kitt Peak. NEID (pronounced “NOO-id,” rhymes with fluid) is a spectrometer that is one of the first instruments of its kind with the precision to detect small, terrestrial planets around nearby stars. NEID will also confirm the presence of planets discovered by NASA’s TESS space telescope, and reveal details of their anatomy.
Eventually, scientists want to be able to find Earth-like planets around Sun-like stars, in an effort to find a world with life on it.
