It Must Be Astronomical

The loaner program offers members a means to try scopes of various sizes and technologies before you buy. For more information please see the loaner program web page: http://www.sjaa.net/loaners.shtml

New Planets

As this issue went to press we learned that a European exoplanet study has found 50 new planets. Of these, 16 are in the so-called “super earth” category and one appears to be in a habitable zone. These planets were found using the same radial velocity technique that has found most exoplanets but it is from HARPS, a European project using a telescope in southern Chile. For more information see http://www.eso.org/public/news/eso1134/. NASA/JPL PlanetQuest says that 564 planets have been found but the number of earthlike planets is still 0. Note, this planet count does not include the planetary candidates found by the Kepler project. That project claimed about 1000 candidates last spring. Because of the location of the sky surveyed, HARPS and Kepler cannot look at the same stars. Viewing an exoplanet using both radial velocity and transiting techniques allows astronomers to better characterize the planet.

SVALS Hiatus

Andrew Fraknoi says the Silicon Valley Astronomy Lecture Series is taking a year off while the Foothill College’s Smithwick Theatre is being renovated. The Series will resume with the 2012-2013 school year.