# Will Depue launches $100,000 grant for amateur astronomy research

> Original title: announcement: i'm launching a $100,000 grant for amateur astronomy research: http://claudestronomy.com

- Source: will depue
- Published: 2026-11-11T21:40:17.000Z
- Bad Influence: https://badinfluence.news/items/adcrxkm4airkmxrqhizo8alp1
- Original: https://x.com/willdepue/status/2120632732107907471

## Summary

Will Depue says he is launching a $100,000 grant for amateur astronomy research, with applications open through claudestronomy.com. He says he and collaborators used Claude and Codex to find a new dwarf planet in public telescope data, which is still being confirmed by Joshua Wolk. He describes it as about a quarter the width of Pluto, orbiting beyond Neptune, and says more objects remain in public NASA and ESA databases.

## Why it matters

The source shows a grant funding amateur astronomers to analyze public telescope data, with a first claimed find still under confirmation.

## Post

announcement: i'm launching a $100,000 grant for amateur astronomy research: http://claudestronomy.com

over the past few weeks, @joshuawolk @LukeFarritor and i have been digging through public telescope data, hunting for new planets, asteroids, and more

our first release: we found a new dwarf planet in our solar system!! it's insane how much you can find with some claude + codex credits

it's about 1/4 the width of Pluto and orbits about twice as far (way past Neptune), and looks like it's about the 50th largest object in our solar system. @joshuawolk is in the process of confirming it

this dwarf planet has sat in public images for over a decade without anyone noticing. there's tons more out there: all sitting in public NASA/ESA/etc. databases for you to analyze

there's tons of stuff still out there, sitting in data that astronomers don't have enough time to go through all of

you can do this too! apply for a grant. more info below

## Quoted post @joshuawolk

> Claude and I found a dwarf planet candidate. It's the ~50th largest known object in our entire solar system.

https://x.com/joshuawolk/status/2120562733645287709