Predicting the number of planets from TESS
NASA’s TESS spacecraft has launched! Today’s paper predicts how many exoplanets it will find.
Statistically Confirming an Earth-Like Planet? Not So Fast!
Statistical confirmation of long-period, low SNR candidates should be taken with a grain of salt. The reliability is too low to confirm individual systems without followup observations and the 99% confidence validation of Kepler-452b is likely closer to 90%.
Deep Spectra with PEPSI
The new high-resolution, hydra-headed PEPSI spectrograph is now in operation. One of the first targets it investigated is an ancient, planet-hosting star.
Where’s the flux? Dust? Discuss.
Tabetha Boyajian calls it “the most mysterious star in the universe.” Has she figured it out?
Meet the AAS Keynote Speakers: Lars Bildsten
Professor Lars Bildsten understand the values of change — stellar change, that is. Read more about his research and career before his keynote at #AAS231!
Something bizarre is happening in stars
The light from a star is not constant, it varies as the layers of hot material move back and forth, clump and disperse. Most of these vibrations are visible, detectable, and well understood. But some bizarre new vibration is happening in stars, for which we have no clear path to an explanation.