News and updates on NASA’s Earths in Other Systems Project from PI Daniel Apai. May 10, 2015. Sunday early morning with a coffee in my hand, sitting next to giant blooming Saguaro cacti and citrus trees in Tucson with the spectacular Catalina mountains in the background. Two tiny hummingbirds angrily hover around each other in the air,…
All posts in Exoplanet Exploration
NExSS Kick-off Meeting at NASA HQ
Posted on Author Daniel ApaiPosted in Astrobiology, Exoplanet Exploration, News, Travels & PhotosLeave a Reply
Two weeks ago NASA has announced its new Nexus for Exoplanet System Science, which may prove to be a major change in the way NASA will fund exoplanet science in the future. Our UA-led team was part of the first selection and I, the principal investigator of our project, joined the program’s two-day kick-off meeting at…
Extrasolar Storms Talk Video from HST 25 Symposium
My Extrasolar Storms talk, given at the Hubble 25 Symposium, is now available online – check it out if you like a mix of the Hubble Space Telescope, iron raindrops, gigantic storms, and methods to map extrasolar planets: https://tinyurl.com/pjjbyv4
Grenoble and Planet Hunting with Adaptive Optics
In July I spent four exciting days at the Institut de Planetologie et d’Astrophysique de Grenoble (IPAG). Set in a picturesque green valley in the Alps where the rivers Drac and Ilsere merge, this scenic little town in Southern France is well-known for planet hunters. The Grenoble group I visited is one of the world…
How to Get Your Own Exoplanet?
If you have been reading about exoplanets, you know that they all have boring names, such as GJ 876b, 51 Peg b, or WASP-19b (not to speak about the likes of KOI-762.02). Up to a few days ago the official names of exoplanets had to be the catalog identifier of their host star plus a…
The Wildest Clouds in The Universe
Flying on a Delta MD90 jet on my way back from Munich, Germany to Tucson among gorgeous towering clouds glowing in exotic shades of yellow, orange, and purple. Amazing view – especially interesting is the all the different clouds we see are made of water. How would clouds on exotic other planets look? Earth is…
Proto-blog
Posted on Author Daniel ApaiPosted in Astrobiology, Exoplanet Discoveries, Exoplanet Exploration1 Reply
I am working on setting up the Distant Earths blog. You will find here news and views on the search for life beyond the solar system, extrasolar planets, and astrobiology.