I heard one anecdote (in a television documentary quite some time ago)
of an exoplanet hunter who, in the early or mid 1990's (when the best
precision was in the 3 - 10 m/s range) thought he had discovered one.
When it came time to present his findings at a conference, he mounted
the podium only to painfully relate to his eager audience that, having
realized that the period of his purported planet was 1 year, what he had
"discovered" was merely an annual residual in his data. His candor,
nevertheless, earned him a brisk applause. The moral of the story, as
presented, was about the scientific virtue of frank disclosure in the
face of error.

But now I have another interest. I would like to analyse his residuals.
can any of you suggest who the planet hunter was?

[Mod. note: you are probably thinking of Andrew Lyne: see
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Lyne -- mjh]

Regards

--
Charles Francis
moderator sci.physics.foundations.
substitute charles for NotI to email