In astronomy everyone shares the same laboratory, the sky. Astronomers with Ph.Ds use giant telescopes to look at the same sky you can walk outside and look up to. Many amateur astronomers have taken advantage of just that….
This is the story of exoplanet 55 Cnc e, which was first identified via the radial velocity method as a 14 Earth-mass planet on a 2.8 day orbit. A re-analysis in 2010 pointed towards an even shorter period orbit and a paper on the arxiv last week followed up on those predictions.
Check out our newest glossary describing the ground-based and space-based observatories used by astronomers.
Is there a third companion in the Sirius system? Thalmann et al. conduct direct imaging observations to find out.
Mergers play an important role in any galaxy’s evolution. A coincidental observation of a quasar and companion galaxy linked by a photoionized gas bridge offers an exclusive look at the merger process at moderate redshift.
Last week I spent two nights observing on Magellan, in Chile. It was my first observing trip and there was a lot more to it than expected!