This is a golden era for space and planetary science, a time when discoveries, new understandings, and newly-found mysteries are flooding in. There are so many reasons to find the drama intriguing: a desire to understand the physical forces at play, to learn how those forces led to the formation of Earth and ultimately us, …
Continue reading "Some Spectacular Images (And Science) From The Year Past"
Now that we know that there are billions and billions of planets beyond our solar system, and we even know where thousands of confirmed and candidate planets are located, where should we be looking for those planets that could in theory support extraterrestrial life, and might just possibly support it now? The first order …
Now that we know that there are billions and billions of planets beyond our solar system, and we even know where thousands of confirmed and candidate planets are located, where should we be looking for those planets that could in theory support extraterrestrial life, and might just possibly support it now? The first order …
One of the seemingly quixotic goals of exoplanet scientists is to understand the chemical and geo-chemical compositions of the interiors of the distant planets they are finding. Learning whether a planet is largely made up of silicon or magnesium or iron-based compounds is essential to some day determining how and where specific exoplanets were …
Continue reading "Shredding Exoplanets, And The Mysteries They May Unravel"
One of the seemingly quixotic goals of exoplanet scientists is to understand the chemical and geo-chemical compositions of the interiors of the distant planets they are finding. Learning whether a planet is largely made up of silicon or magnesium or iron-based compounds is essential to some day determining how and where specific exoplanets were …
Continue reading "Shredding Exoplanets, And The Mysteries They May Unravel"
An earlier version of this article was accidently published last week before it was completed. This is the finished version, with information from this week's AAS annual conference. Let's face it: the field of exoplanets has a significant deficit when it comes to producing drop-dead beautiful pictures. We all know why. Exoplanets are just too …
Continue reading "How Will We Know What Exoplanets Look Like, and When?"
An earlier version of this article was accidently published last week before it was completed. This is the finished version, with information from this week's AAS annual conference. Let's face it: the field of exoplanets has a significant deficit when it comes to producing drop-dead beautiful pictures. We all know why. Exoplanets are just too …
Continue reading "How Will We Know What Exoplanets Look Like, and When?"
For thinking about the enormity of the canvas of potential suns and exoplanets, I find images like this and what they tell us to be an awkward combination of fascinating and daunting. This is an image that, using the combined capabilities of NASA's Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes, shows what is being described as the …
For thinking about the enormity of the canvas of potential suns and exoplanets, I find images like this and what they tell us to be an awkward combination of fascinating and daunting. This is an image that, using the combined capabilities of NASA's Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes, shows what is being described as the …
Many Worlds 