Hot Jupiters and Their Effects on Host Stars
Hot Jupiters offer an interesting mechanism for affecting the rotation and magnetic activity levels of their host stars.
Linking Stellar Age, Rotation, and Magnetic Activity
We have repeatedly seen how Kepler goes above and beyond its original mission of finding exoplanets. Today’s paper is no exception.
One Star, Two Star, Brown Star, Blue Star
Enter the observed oddball: a subdwarf B (sdB) star. These unexpected stars are fusing helium into carbon and oxygen in their core and only have a thin hydrogen envelope. So, where did the hydrogen go?
A star with a fake ID?
Most binary stars probably formed at the same time, meaning all stars in the same system should have the same age. The authors of this paper analyze a stellar binary system where one star appears to be lying about its age, as one star appears 3 billion years older than its companion.
Pinpointing Stellar Properties with Bayesian Statistics
The link between a pile of data and a physical explanation is the fun part. Astronomers spend countless hours gathering data, and countless more thinking up physical models for different pieces of the Universe. But reconciling these two things—finding a model that not only agrees with observations, but is the sole likely explanation—isn’t easy.
The Little Star that Could (Teach us about Stellar Astrophysics)
Today we take a look back to 1916, when distances were measured in light years and uncertainties weren’t to be included in publications. The nearly 100-year old discovery of a small star has large implications for our understanding of stellar astrophysics, even today.