Blogs
Blog Archive
The "Starship Century" Beckons
Gregory and James Benford return to Planetary Radio
Posted by Mat Kaplan on 2013/10/01 10:30 CDT
The Benford brothers provide inspiration and hard fact in their excellent new anthology about interstellar travel.
Europe Will Select Its Next Major Science Mission in November
Posted by Van Kane on 2013/09/25 01:22 CDT | 2 comments
The European Space Agency will announce two major science missions this November, one of which is likely to be devoted to solar system exploration.
Book review: Destiny or Chance Revisited
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2013/09/04 01:02 CDT | 1 comments
What have the recent discoveries of thousands of exoplanets told us about how we got here, and whether we are alone? In Destiny or Chance Revisited, Stuart Ross Taylor attempts to answer those two questions.
Upgraded Alpha Centauri Planet Search Underway
Posted by Bruce Betts on 2013/07/26 04:32 CDT
The Planetary Society sponsored Alpha Centauri planet search started using a newly upgraded system in May. Here is a quick update including info from project leader Debra Fischer from Yale about their new system.
Posted by Jim Bell on 2013/06/03 03:53 CDT | 6 comments
I'm absolutely floored when I stop to think that our beautiful blue ocean is only one of perhaps a half dozen or more oceans on other worlds in our solar system, and only one of probably millions (or more) oceans on other Earth-like planets in our galaxy. Oceans abound!
Astronomy Enters a New Era
Join us for a live webcast about thrilling new tools that will come online in the next decade.
Posted by Mat Kaplan on 2013/05/26 08:45 CDT | 3 comments
A live conversation about just a few of the powerful new instruments that will revolutionize our knowledge of the cosmos once again.
ALMA Adventure--Complete Interviews With Planetary Radio Guests
Posted by Mat Kaplan on 2013/03/26 12:33 CDT | 6 comments
The extended, mostly unedited recordings of my conversations with many of the people I spoke to at the ALMA Observatory in Chile. Also, the full English translation of Chilean President Sebastian Pinera's speech.
Atacama Diary for March 2, 2013--ALMA Explained
Posted by Mat Kaplan on 2013/03/02 07:00 CST
The second in a series of audio blogs chronicling my trip to the driest spot on Earth, Chile's Atacama desert, to see the inauguration of the ALMA Observatory. Al Wootten and Alison Peck tell the story of ALMA.
Planetary Society Weekly Hangout, Thu Feb 14 1200PT/2000UT: Courtney Dressing
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2013/02/14 01:40 CST | 3 comments
Emily Lakdawalla and Courtney Dressing talked about just how common Earth-sized exoplanets may be in our neighborhood. Watch the replay here.
The raw data behind an Earth-like exoplanet
Posted by Jason Davis on 2013/01/11 03:29 CST | 14 comments
Taking a closer look at KOI 172.02, a super-Earth exoplanet sitting in its solar system's habitable zone.
Report from AAS: Exoplanets (and exo-asteroids, and exo-comets) everywhere
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2013/01/08 06:52 CST | 7 comments
This year's American Astronomical Society meeting featured tons and tons of news on exoplanets. They're everywhere! And not just planets, but also asteroids, comets, and more....
Posted by Martin Still on 2013/01/07 12:35 CST | 1 comments
A change in the Kepler data delivery process provides both scientists and the public to get involved in planet discovery.
First Planet Discovered in Alpha Centauri System
Information on the Discovery, and also Insights from Debra Fischer
Posted by Bruce Betts on 2012/10/17 07:22 CDT | 12 comments
European astronomers have made the first planetary discovery in the closest-to-Earth Alpha Centauri star system. Here is some information about the discovery, and insights from Yale Astronomer Debra Fischer, who leads another Alpha Centauri planet search partially supported by The Planetary Society.
Posted by Mat Kaplan on 2012/06/20 10:24 CDT | 2 comments
Okay, just the ones we know about. xkcd does it again.
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2012/04/06 04:06 CDT | 1 comments
Someone on Twitter pointed me to a paper recently posted to ArXiv titled "Evidence for 9 planets in the HD 10180 system." If the (tentative) conclusion holds up, HD 10180 will be the first exoplanetary system known to have more planets than our own.
Separating fact from speculation about Kepler-20's Earth-sized planets
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2011/12/20 04:53 CST
A large team of researchers has announced in a Nature article the discovery of not one, but two, Earth-sized planets orbiting a star named Kepler-20. This article separates the observational facts from the quite-likely-to-be-true inferences from the downstream speculations.
Hubble's Millionth Observation
Posted by Bill Nye on 2011/07/05 05:15 CDT
The Hubble Space Telescope has recorded its millionth observation. The planet is designated HAT-P-7b.
Posted by Meg Schwamb on 2011/06/08 02:43 CDT
On May 5 and 6, I had a run on the WIYN (Wisconsin-Indiana-Yale-NOAO) telescope, a 3.5 m telescope, the second largest telescope on Kitt Peak in Arizona.
Searching for one planet, finding another
Posted by Konstantin Batygin on 2011/05/23 07:35 CDT
Guest blog: Konstantin Batygin: Searching for one planet, finding another
SETI@home Following Up on Kepler Discoveries
Posted by Charlene Anderson on 2011/05/13 06:15 CDT
Remember SETI@home? The ground-breaking computing project is now taking a look at candidate Earth-like planets that have been detected by NASA's Kepler space telescope.
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