Astronomical celebrity, or just another pretender? The curious case of CR7
Last year’s discovery of CR7, an intriguing galaxy in the early universe, encouraged many exotic explanations. New observations somewhat spoil the party
Gravity-Darkened Seasons on Planets
Spinning stars can potentially double the number of seasons that a planet experiences due to surface temperature variations on the stellar surface.
Shooting for the Stars (and damage of doing so)
We now know that our nearest stellar neighbor may harbor an Earth-like exoplanet. The Breakthrough Starshot initiative plans to get spacecraft there in only 20 years. However, the “empty” space between us and our nearest star is not completely empty, and the material in the path of these spacecraft may have catastrophic consequences for the mission.
Black holes and populations
Every massive galaxy hosts a supermassive black hole – but how do these cosmic monsters affect the stars they share their galaxy with?
How many planets are there between the stars?
The bending of light by gravity produces many phenomena, which can be exploited to make otherwise impossible observations. Chief among these is microlensing, where the light from a distant star or galaxy can be magnified by another object in between it and the observer. Initially used to image distant galaxy clusters, it can also reveal the presence of otherwise undetectable planets.es
KELT-16b: a new benchmark for future exoplanet atmosphere studies
On KELT-16b you would melt. I would melt too. A look at an exciting and newly discovered Hot Jupiter, and why KELT-16b is a valuable addition to the group of boiling gas giant planets, and a fantastic target for future atmospheric studies.