Category Archives: Exoplanets

Thousands of Other Planets (Post 4)

Posted on March 23, 2022 by ccatanese1

Other planets and galaxies in space have been the subject of many science fiction novels and television shows, most notably Star Trek. This week, NASA officially confirmed that 5,000 exoplanets outside of our Solar System exist. This discovery is monumental within the astronomy community, because although it has been speculated that there are millions or […] Continue reading →

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Let’s Talk About Super-Earths

Posted on March 21, 2022 by jordanekstein

Super-Earths refer to planets discovered that are more massive than earth, yet lighter than ice giants like Neptune or Uranus. These super-earths can be composed of rock, gas or both and they must be between can be between 2 and ten times the size of earth. Despite their category name, this type of planet is […] Continue reading →

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Microlensing

Posted on May 5, 2021 by solarcecily

Here’s a way to detect exoplanets you may have not heard of before! Microlensing is a technique that looks at how light is bent in the gravitational field surrounding a planetary system passing its star. The refraction creates “distorted, multiple, and/or brightened images.” All of these images are combined into one image. This image’s brightnessContinue reading “Microlensing” Continue reading →

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Culmination Reflection Post

Posted on May 4, 2021 by zhengjs1

After taking Astronomy 2110, not only has my perspective of our Solar System changed and widened, but also did my view on the universe as a whole. Perhaps one of the biggest eye-openers for me came near the beginning of the semester when we learned just how vast our Universe is as a whole. BeforeContinue reading “Culmination Reflection Post” Continue reading →

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A New Hope (For Alien Life)

Posted on May 4, 2021 by connorrobbwilcox

Astronomy 2110 has been a real pleasure of a class to attend. Not only have I learned so much about Earth, but also about the rest of the solar system. I have discovered the secrets of our planet, the planets that are our neighbors, and our incredible star that I would have never known ifContinue reading “A New Hope (For Alien Life)” Continue reading →

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May the 4th be with you: the Twin Suns of Tatooine

Posted on May 4, 2021 by brandonlipper

One of my recent blogs crushed the dreams of many Star Wars fans by debunking the close proximity of asteroids within an asteroid field in The Empire Strikes Back. That is why, in the spirit of Star Wars Day, I will be sharing an aspect of the films that Star Wars ended up getting correct:Continue reading “May the 4th be with you: the Twin Suns of Tatooine” Continue reading →

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Gotta be Life out there

Posted on May 2, 2021 by dayanel123

Today we will be talking about extremophiles. After learning about all of the potential life that can survive in the harshest of environments, it made me think that there must be life out there. What may seem like a super hot, extremely pressurized environment to us on Venus, may seem like the ideal conditions forContinue reading “Gotta be Life out there” Continue reading →

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Shine Bright like a Diamond ~Planet~

Posted on April 17, 2021 by adisonfields

That’s right, there exists a planet that appears to be one giant diamond.  55 Cancri e was discovered in 2004, orbiting a nearby star in our galaxy.  This star is actually visible to the naked eye in the night sky and is a part of the constellation Cancer.  Based on its mass, radius, and host star’s composition, itContinue reading “Shine Bright like a Diamond ~Planet~” Continue reading →

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Fomalhaut b: The Planet that Disappeared

Posted on April 17, 2021 by bellagoodnight

What’s more interesting than the story of a planet that disappeared? Fans of Fomalhaut b would argue that nothing tops the tragic story of this exoplanet. What was initially thought to be a large world sitting only 25 light years away was later found out to be nothing but a dispersing cloud of dust. FomalhautContinue reading “Fomalhaut b: The Planet that Disappeared” Continue reading →

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Which Exoplanet Could Be Planet B?

Posted on April 17, 2021 by brandonlipper

The transit method has already been used to discover a few thousand exoplanets and continues to discover more through both old observations and current missions. With this method, the brightness levels of stars in other solar systems are measured. When the brightness dims, this is a sign that an extrasolar planet may have passed inContinue reading “Which Exoplanet Could Be Planet B?” Continue reading →

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