Category Archives: Exoplanets

“Hot” Jupiters

Posted on April 7, 2016 by sarabkeller

Last unit, we learned about the formation of our own solar system, in which small, rocky planets formed close to the Sun, and large, gas giants formed far from the Sun (past the frost line). This is due to the fact that during planetary formation, the area closest to the Sun was extremely hot, and […] Continue reading →

Posted in Exoplanets | Tagged , , | Comments Off on “Hot” Jupiters

Rocky Planets Shouldn’t Get This Big…

Posted on April 6, 2016 by andyastronomer

Planetary formation theorists are scratching their heads at the recent discovery of the largest rocky world found to date – BD+20594b. This exoplanet is a rocky world with a diameter half that of Neptune. With a planet that size, one may think that we were talking about a gas giant, but we’re not. According to our present […] Continue reading →

Posted in Exoplanets, Universe | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Rocky Planets Shouldn’t Get This Big…

The Mystery of “Hot Jupiters”

Posted on April 6, 2016 by alecsolarsystem

Over the last decade, astronomers have discovered thousands of exoplanets, many of which have gone against our current understanding of planet formation. Most of these exoplanets orbit very close to their star, as these are the easiest to discover since they block out more light from their respective stars than planets orbiting farther out do. […] Continue reading →

Posted in Exoplanets, Galaxies, Universe | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on The Mystery of “Hot Jupiters”

Extrasolar = ExtraSPECIAL?

Posted on April 4, 2016 by paxtonastronomy

By far, the coolest thing there is about extrasolar planets is the possibility of discovering another Earth. Of course, this is merely an opinion of my own, but I’d like to think that a lot of people agree. Statistically speaking, it is not only possible but also extremely probably that there is another Earth in […] Continue reading →

Posted in Class, Exoplanets | Tagged , | Comments Off on Extrasolar = ExtraSPECIAL?

In Other News: We Can Analyze Atmospheres of Super-Earths

Posted on February 16, 2016 by andyastronomer

(Feature Image courtesy of ESA/Hubble, M. Kornmesser) In the past week, the big news in astronomy was the first detection of gravitational waves, a phenomenon predicted by Albert Einstein in his general theory of relativity. No doubt within a few years students will be reading in textbooks about how the LIGO experiment measured the gravitational […] Continue reading →

Posted in Exoplanets, Physics, Science | Tagged , | Comments Off on In Other News: We Can Analyze Atmospheres of Super-Earths

Blog #4

Posted on February 16, 2016 by astronomer0110

A topic I’ve always found interesting is the idea of the likelihood of extraterrestrial life in the universe. Many scientists in recent history have noted that there is an extremely high probability of life elsewhere in the universe due to the immense amount of stars and planets that must exist with favorable circumstances for the […] Continue reading →

Posted in Aliens, Exoplanets | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Blog #4

The Serial Killer Known as Light

Posted on February 15, 2016 by astr2110geoffren

Pretty Much a Giant Lightsaber Gamma Radiation Bursts (GRB) make up the brightest flashes of light from outer space and it isn’t even a contest. If we had the ability to see them we would probably all instantaneously go blind. These flashes of light can last anywhere from a few milliseconds to a few minutes […] Continue reading →

Posted in Aliens, Class, Exoplanets, Galaxies, Stars | Tagged , | Comments Off on The Serial Killer Known as Light

Your Zodiac Sign is Wrong: 3 Misconceptions You Have About the Night-Sky

Posted on January 26, 2016 by harperastronomyblog

We all get it. You’re a Capricorn or a Taurus or a Sagittarius or a(n) [any other zodiac constellation]. You’ve read all of your horoscopes, and they fit your personality soooo well. “This is so me,” you might yell to your friends, completely disregarding the fact that they don’t care which vague internet prediction you identify with. […] Continue reading →

Posted in Aliens, Class, Dwarf Planets, Exoplanets, Galaxies, General, Historical, Instruments, Jovians, Light, Moons, Observables, Outreach, Physics, Planet Rings, Public Policy, Science, Small SS Objects, SolarSystem, Space Travel, Stars, Sun, Terrestrials, Universe | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Your Zodiac Sign is Wrong: 3 Misconceptions You Have About the Night-Sky

New Horizon’s Approaches Pluto: So What?

Posted on April 28, 2015 by agiantchicken

NASA’s New Horizon’s spacecraft is only three months approaching Pluto, and for the first time, we have a true color picture of the Pluto/Charon dwarf planet system. As I sit here typing this, I say, “so what?” Well, it turns out that this is the first time that any spacecraft has traveled so long and […] Continue reading →

Posted in Class, Exoplanets | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on New Horizon’s Approaches Pluto: So What?

NASA’s NExSS Project to Lead the Way for the Search for Alien Life

Posted on April 28, 2015 by agiantchicken

NASA is currently assembling a group that it plans to call the Nexus for Exoplanet System Science (NExSS), which will be a group of specialists from various scientific fields in hopes to study the nature of exoplanets and figure out if some might be suitable for life. Currently the project has garnered support among planetary and […] Continue reading →

Posted in Class, Exoplanets | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on NASA’s NExSS Project to Lead the Way for the Search for Alien Life