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Exoplanet Hunters Fail Predictions

August 31, 2010

Before the first extrasolar planets were discovered, astronomers had high confidence that other solar systems would resemble ours. We have rocky planets close to the sun, and gas giants farther out. Planetary scientists were pretty sure the pattern would hold up around other stars. Now that we have hundreds of examples to compare, the reality […]

Origin of Life

Wishing ET Upon a Star

July 19, 2010

What are the odds of finding extraterrestrials? That subject has been discussed ad infinitum, but David Shiga at New Scientist thinks the odds just went up. “Solitary suns like ours are not as rare as we once thought, boosting the likelihood that there are other life-friendly solar systems in the universe.” It should be noted […]

Cosmology

Who in the Universe Makes Music?

February 1, 2010

A cosmologist and some musicians want to “sonify the universe” by making music out of stellar events like supernova explosions. In an unusual article for a science media outlet, “Reaching for the Stars to Create Music of the Universe,” Science Daily reported that Nobel laureate George Smoot was inspired by the wishes of a Grateful […]

Cosmology

Bad Math Gets a Pass When Its Naturalistic

January 8, 2010

“Now we know our place in the universe,” gloated Ohio State University astronomer Scott Gaudi, who told the science press that 15% of solar systems in the universe are like ours. “Solar systems like our own are not rare, but we’re not in the majority, either.” His calculation was based on how many relatively earthlike […]

Intelligent Design

Outer Limits Not Lively

September 29, 2009

One of the “cosmic coincidences” cited in the intelligent-design treatise The Privileged Planet1 is the “galactic habitable zone” – a fairly narrow region of the galaxy where planets can form and exist safely. The outer regions of the galaxy were described as lacking the heavy elements necessary for planet formation. Score one for […]

Intelligent Design

Earth Size Gives Life Edge

September 7, 2009

The earth seems to be holding onto its status as a privileged planet. New Scientist reported that a rocky planet’s size is linked to its ability to sustain a magnetic field and plate tectonics. This means that some of the “super-earths” found around other stars (5-10 times the size of earth) may not be habitable. […]

Astronomy

Planet-Makers Ask Miracles to Evade Death Spiral

August 21, 2009

Remember the old artwork of planets gently forming out of dust orbiting a young star? That’s all gone. Reality has set it. Clumps of material a meter across need help – almost miraculous help – to avoid getting sucked into the star in a giant death spiral. If you don’t believe it, ask John Chambers […]

Physics

Faint Young Sun Paradox Resolved

August 18, 2009

For decades, astronomers and geologists have worried about a paradox. Stellar evolution theory claims sunlight on the early earth would have been 20-30% dimmer than it is today, but geology shows the oceans were liquid in the earliest (Archean) rocks. For that matter, so does the book of Genesis, but that record is not usually […]

Education

Is It OK When Astronomers Sell Stars?

August 17, 2009

Most people have heard the ads for companies that sell you a certificate for a star they will name after you. Professional astronomers have usually been quick to discourage people from falling for the schemes that have no professional or international authority for naming stars (for instance, see this article on Wired.com). But now, according […]

Origin of Life

This Place Really Has Atmosphere

June 11, 2009

Of all the bodies in the solar system, only eight have a substantial atmosphere. If you add in those with tenuous atmospheres, you can add in Triton and Mercury, and maybe a few others, till it becomes pedantic to call it an atmosphere if there are only a few short-lived molecules hovering over a moon. […]

Cell Biology

Scientific Data Can Mislead

May 4, 2009

Some recent stories should remind scientists that data do not exist in a philosophical vacuum. Sometimes empirical measurements can be downright misleading. Pillars of creation: The famous Hubble photo of the Eagle Nebula’s “pillars of creation” seemed to have a straightforward explanation: nearby stars were eroding the pillars with blasts of radiation. Scientists have been […]

Physics

Whoops, the Wrong Star Exploded

March 23, 2009

“Our understanding of the evolution of massive stars before their final explosions as supernovae is incomplete, from both an observational and a theoretical standpoint.” That’s how a paper in Nature begins.1 Avishay Gal-Yam was not kidding; a star exploded that theory says was not supposed to. The famous supernova 1987A was already an […]

Bible and Theology

Kepler On the Way to Search for Earth-Size Planets

March 7, 2009

The long-awaited launch of the planet-hunting Kepler spacecraft was successful Friday night, announced the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Named for the 17th-century German astronomer-mathematician Johannes Kepler, the spacecraft will stare at 100,000 stars for over three years, looking for variations in their light that indicate the presence of planets. Follow-up studies may determine if some of […]

Solar System

Habitable Zones Are Not Forever

October 27, 2008

A new realization has broken on the astrobiological community: planetary habitable zones have no fences. Michael Sherber wrote for Astrobiology Magazine (see Space.com) that planets around low-mass stars tend to be pulled out of the habitable zone toward the star. They have just a billion years before migration can pull them in and cook them. […]