ExploreAstro at Caltech/IPAC
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04/08/2026
Amaze! Amaze! Amaze! 🪨
Caltech IPAC scientist Catherine Clark was quoted in a Physics Today article about the science behind the book and recently released movie Project Hail Mary.
https://physicstoday.aip.org/news/science-inspires-but-does-not-limit-andy-weirs-fiction
The Physics Today writer, Jenessa Duncombe, interviews book author Andy Weir about the spreadsheets and calculations that inspire his novels. Weir said “I just like to do things my own way: meticulously, nerdishly, scientifically.”
Duncombe consulted Clark on Rocky’s homeworld, Erid:
One fictional exoplanet, Erid, at the heart of the story, was inspired by a nearby three-star system, 40 Eridani, that is the target of exoplanet searches. Catherine Clark, an astronomer who studies multistar systems, has studied the stars of 40 Eridani. No exoplanets have been confirmed there, says Clark, “but as a nearby bright star, 40 Eridani A is a good candidate for future planet searches.”
Would you want to meet an extraterrestrial like Rocky, question? 🎶 🎵 🎶
NASA’s SPHEREx has mapped the entire sky in 102 infrared colors, essentially creating 102 unique cosmic maps. This video traverses the infrared part of the spectrum, revealing different features like stars and dust. With the legend at the top, we can see why scientists are interested in so many different infrared colors: each one contains unique information about the objects that emit it.
“Because we’re looking at everything in the whole sky, almost every area of astronomy can be addressed by SPHEREx data,” said Rachel Akeson, the lead for the SPHEREx Science Data Center at IPAC.
Other missions, like NASA’s now-retired WISE (Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer), have also mapped the entire sky. SPHEREx builds on this legacy by observing in 102 infrared wavelengths, compared to WISE’s four wavelength bands.
SPHEREx data is published in a public archive hosted by IRSA - Infrared Science Archive, allowing anyone to use the data to probe the secrets of the universe.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
08/07/2025
IPAC scientist finds new evidence for a planet in the same star system as Pandora from Avatar! 💙🌐⭐️⭐️⭐️
https://www.ipac.caltech.edu/news/nasa-s-jwst-finds-new-evidence-for-planet-around-closest-solar-twin
Charles Beichman, Executive Director of NExScI Exoplanet Science Institute at Caltech IPAC, and Aniket Sanghi, a Ph.D. student at Caltech, are co-first authors of a new paper with strong evidence of a giant planet orbiting a star in the stellar system closest to our own Sun. At just 4 light-years away from Earth, the Alpha Centauri triple star system has long been a compelling target in the search for worlds beyond our solar system.
If confirmed, the planet would be the closest to Earth that orbits in the habitable zone of a Sun-like star. However, because the planet candidate is a gas giant, scientists say it would not support life as we know it.
“With this system being so close to us, any exoplanets found would offer our best opportunity to collect data on planetary systems other than our own. Yet, these are incredibly challenging observations to make, even with the world’s most powerful space telescope, because these stars are so bright, close, and move across the sky quickly,” said Beichman.
"Its very existence in a system of two closely separated stars would challenge our understanding of how planets form, survive, and evolve in chaotic environments," said Sanghi.
Image credit:
This artist’s concept shows what a gas giant orbiting Alpha Centauri A could look like. Observations of the triple star system Alpha Centauri using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope indicate the potential gas giant, about the mass of Saturn, orbiting the star by about two times the distance between the Sun and Earth. Artwork: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, R. Hurt (Caltech/IPAC)
Avatar James Cameron
04/03/2025
ICYMI we’ve released 18(!!) episodes of Explore Exoplanets 🎙️🪐
https://youtu.be/rJtW9wWiqBo
Leave a comment on your favorite episode! What’s your favorite real or fictional planet? Who do you want to see as our next guest? Do you have a question for our experts?
Keep an eye out for new episodes coming soon!
Explore Exoplanets Highlights ICYMI we’ve released 18(!!) episodes of Explore Exoplanets!Leave a comment on your favorite episode! What’s your favorite real or fictional planet? Who do yo...
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