Astro-Challenge: What’s so Special About 51 Pegasi?

It’s hard to imagine a time before we knew of worlds beyond our own solar system. These days, extra-solar (or “exoplanets”) are back page news, as discoveries occur almost daily.  But scant decades ago (Waaay back in the pre-Internet Stone Age of the early 1990’s) no exoplanets were known, and the entire field was open [...]

26.10.09:Seeing Starspots.

We know more about our Sun than any other star because it gives us the opportunity to study solar activity up close. But just how normal is it? Recently, astronomers have been able to spy activity on other suns, teasing the data out of exoplanet transits. These are planets that happen to cross the tiny [...]

02.10.09: A Small Observatory Helps with a Big Discovery.

When it comes to cutting edge astronomy, many think of lofty mountaintop behemoths, such as Keck, or the orbiting Hubble Space Telescope. But how many of us think of… Gainesville, Florida? This article caught my eye this morning because its literally right in our backyard here at Astroguyz HQ in Hudson, Florida. As any would-be [...]