Tag: exoplanets
-
If the world stopped turning
[ This blog is dedicated to tracking my most recent publications. Subscribe to the feed to keep up with all the science stories I write! ] What If Earth Stopped Turning? For Curiosity: Earth is spinning on its axis, completing one rotation every 23 hours, 56 minutes, and 4.1 seconds. That spin brings us day…
-
How to find newborn planets without seeing them
[ This blog is dedicated to tracking my most recent publications. Subscribe to the feed to keep up with all the science stories I write! ] And if I can be shameless: Forbes pays according to traffic, so the more of you who click on the link below and read my stuff, the better they…
-
To know if there are aliens, we need to ask the right questions
[ This blog is dedicated to tracking my most recent publications. Subscribe to the feed to keep up with all the science stories I write! ] Are We Alone in the Universe? How can we know if life exists elsewhere in the cosmos? To answer that question, we have to place Earth — and Earth…
-
Finding mountains on distant alien worlds
[ This blog is dedicated to tracking my most recent publications. Subscribe to the feed to keep up with all the science stories I write! ] How Astronomers Could Discover Mountains on Distant Planets Planets too far away to photograph could yield some clues to whether water—and maybe even life—could exist. For The Daily Beast:…
-
It ain’t aliens — but this weird-looking star is still interesting
[ This blog is dedicated to tracking my most recent publications. Subscribe to the feed to keep up with all the science stories I write! ] We Haven’t Found Alien Megastructures… Yet The mystery formations and data discrepancies of Tabby’s Star turned out to have explanations. But that’s not what’s important about the mystery star.…
-
Discovering new planets with artificial intelligence
[ This blog is dedicated to tracking my most recent publications. Subscribe to the feed to keep up with all the science stories I write! ] Thanks to Google AI, Astronomers Have Found New Planets They’re not habitable, but the dual discoveries change how we’re going to hunt for the next Earth. For The Daily…
-
Two weeks in review (October 27-November 9)
Evidently I forgot to post one of these roundups last week, so here’s two weeks’ worth of writing all at once! Also, I have a new sticker design you can order, for those of you (like me) who don’t willingly run for exercise, but want to feel you’ve accomplished something anyway. At least in a…
-
Who names the exoplanets? Who gets to decide?
The New Yorker recently started “Elements”, a science and technology blog. Their most recent contributor is…me! I covered a strange little controversy begun when the International Astronomical Union (IAU), a professional society with over 10 thousand members, decided to pick a fight with a company offering a contest to name exoplanets. That company, Uwingu, decided…
-
Analysis of atmosphere reveals: weird exoplanet is weird
Imagine a planet 7 times the mass of Jupiter, hot enough to glow slightly, and containing dusty clouds of carbon monoxide and water. That planet is HR 8799c, one of the few worlds outside our Solar System which astronomers have been able to image directly. Part of the reason for its weirdness is its youth:…
-
Living planets in a stellar graveyard
When our Sun runs out of nuclear fuel, it will shed its outer layers, while what’s left of the core will remain as a white dwarf: an object the size of Earth, but far more massive. During the final stages of the Sun’s life, Earth is likely to perish as a habitable world, but that’s…
Bowler Hat Science 