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What Does “Earthlike” Even Mean & Should It Apply To Proxima Centauri b?
The ESO's recent announcement that they have discovered an exoplanet candidate orbiting Proxima Centauri - thus confirming weeks of speculation - has certainly been exciting news! Not only is this...
View ArticleDistance & Speed Of Sun’s Orbit Around Galactic Centre Measured
Using the initial data released by the Gaia observatory, a team of Canadian astrophysicists have produced refined estimates on the distance between our Sun and the center of the galaxy. The post...
View ArticleDo Stars Move? Tracking Their Movements Across the Sky
The stars look static in the sky, but are they moving? How fast, and how do we know? What events can make them move faster, and how can humans make them move? The post Do Stars Move? Tracking Their...
View ArticleThe Power of the Wobble: Finding Exoplanets in the Shifting of Starlight
They say there’s more than one way to skin an interstellar cat, and in astronomy there’s more than one way to find alien exoplanets orbiting a distant star. With the recent shut-down of NASA’s prolific...
View ArticleAstronomy Jargon 101: Doppler Shift
In this series we are exploring the weird and wonderful world of astronomy jargon! Watch out for today’s topic: doppler shift! We’ve all heard the wailing of the ambulance as it rushes by. Not only...
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Astronomers Find a Sun-like Star Orbiting a Nearby Black Hole
In 1916, Karl Schwarzchild theorized the existence of black holes as a resolution to Einstein’s field equations for his Theory of General Relativity. By the mid-20th century, astronomers began...
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Keck's new Planet Hunter Instrument Comes Online, Searching for Smaller, More...
There’s a new planet hunter in town, and it’s got its sights set on nearby Earth-sized planets in the galactic neighborhood. Dubbed the Keck Planet Finder, or KPF for short, the new instrument at the...
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Do Exoplanet Scientists Have Favorite Exoplanets?
Exoplanets have become quite the sensation over the last decade-plus, with scientists confirming new exoplanets on a regular basis thanks to NASA’s Kepler and TESS missions, along with the James Webb...
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Sci-Fi Christmas is Ruined! Planet Vulcan Doesn’t Exist
Fans of Star Trek were over the Moon when, in 2018, astronomers with the Dharma Planet Survey (DPS) announced the possible detection of 40 Eridani b, an extrasolar planet in the star system 40...
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Polaris is the Closest, Brightest Cepheid Variable. Very Recently, Something...
When you look up in the night sky and find your way to the North Star, you are looking at Polaris. Not only is it the brightest star in the Ursa Minor constellation (the Little Dipper), but its...
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