The title, as far as formal research papers go, is a fairly innocuous one; Discovery of peculiar periodic spectral modulations in a small fraction of solar type stars, but the claim is a whopper. According to a Canadian astronomer, Earth is currently on the receiving end of laser transmissions from some 234 different star systems, a signal […]
In August, the European Southern Observatory announced the discovery of an Earth sized planet orbiting in the habitable, or Goldilocks Zone, of the red dwarf star Proxima Centauri. Given its location just 4.22 light years away, the newfound world is as close to Earth as a potentially life-supporting planet could plausibly be, raising interesting philosophical […]
Of all the stunning real-life images of deep space captured by the telescopes of the European Southern Observatory, this artist’s impression may be the most profound. As expected, the ESO held a press conference at its headquarters in Munich, Germany yesterday to announce that its researchers have indeed discovered a near Earth sized planet orbiting […]
You may recall the Drake Equation, the famous estimate of the total number of potential technologically advanced civilization in the Milky Way, with which we might make radio contact. The right hand side of the equation, courtesy of Wikipedia are : R* = the average rate of star formation in our galaxy fp = the […]
In the best image of its kind to date, ESO’s ALMA captures a protoplanetary disc around the star TW Hydrae, revealing the telltale signature of rings and gaps that indicate planets are in the process of formation. Press Release From the European Southern Observatory: The star TW Hydrae is a popular target of study for […]
NASA announced today the discovery of the first Earth sized planet located within the habitable zone of another star. The planet, named Kepler 186F, is orbiting a red dwarf (M) type star approximately 500 light years from Earth. Estimated to be only 10% larger than Earth, Kepler 186F is the outermost planet in a […]
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