Posts Tagged ‘astronomy’

An Actual Waterworld


24 Feb

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We’ve found Waterworld! GJ 1214b, in the Serpent Bearer constellation, has an estimated surface temperature of 446 degrees Farenheit, so life as we know it could not live there, but we are pretty sure the planet is mostly made up of water.

Water has a density of 1 gram/cubic centimeter. Earth, which has a lot of water, has a density of 5.5 g/cc. We estimate GJ1244b’s density to be only 2 g/cc. That’s a lot of water, including possible “hot ice” and “superfluid water”.

And GJ1214b is close enough to Earth that we should be able to study it more.

Want to discover new planets?


14 Sep

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If you’re an astronomer, especially one who’s interested in finding new planets, Chile is apparently the place to be. Astronomers in Chile just announced the discovery of 50 new planets, one of them a possible super-Earth (no idea what makes it super). In fact, this same telescope in Chile is responsible for the discovery of the both the possible super-Earths. Talk about a cool place to work.

However, it looks like Europe will soon be the place to be, once the European Extremely Large Telescope (great name) if built. The new super-Earth will be a prime target for the telescope.

Astronomy Picture of the Day


11 Jan

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I love the Astronomy Picture of the Day website. It is my default for having beautiful, work safe, not personal, wallpaper on my office computer.

Not every picture they post is good for wallpaper, but many are. In fact, while I try to update my wallpaper at least once a week and sometimes more, my current wallpaper is from December 13.

It’s soothing to take a moment to look at the night sky in the midst of a hectic work day, especially in the PNW, when, during the winter, we can go forever without seeing the moon and stars ourselves.

100 Words On

topics explored in exactly 100 words