Archive for the ‘Planet Hunter’ Category

Geoff Marcy: Planet Hunter Supreme

Yesterday’s New York Times profile of planet hunter Geoff Marcy brought back great memories of my trip to the Keck Observatory in Hawaii during the summer of 2009.  I spent a few days with Geoff learning about planet hunting for… Read the rest >>
 

Planets Galore!

Well-known planet hunter Geoff Marcy and scientists from the University of California, Berkeley ([U.C. Berkeley] and the University of Hawaii, Manoa announced exciting news yesterday.  By computing data from the Kepler Space Mission, they figured out the number of Earth-like… Read the rest >>
 

Kepler Telescope Can’t Be Fixed

The planet hunting community is mourning the loss of the Kepler Space Telescope, and so am I. Since May, Kepler technicians have been trying to fix the telescope’s broken reaction wheel, a mechanism that keeps the telescope steady and controls… Read the rest >>
 

Marcy Searches For Alien Life

Astronomer and world-famous planet hunter Geoff Marcy is not just searching for extrasolar planets these days. Now he’s looking for signs of alien civilizations. The Washington Post and other media announced today that Marcy received a $200,000 grant from the… Read the rest >>
 

Kepler Mission Endangered

Oh no. The Kepler Space Telescope — responsible for detecting 135 confirmed planets and over 3,500 planet candidates — is malfunctioning and has shut down. The problem stems from a faulty reaction wheel that keeps the telescope pointed and aimed.… Read the rest >>
 

Geoff Marcy in the News

In case you missed it, journalist Kate Murphy wrote an article about astronomer Geoff Marcy’s personal tastes in reading, watching, listening, and purchasing in the Sunday Review section of the New York Times yesterday. Marcy recommends a new book about… Read the rest >>
 

AUSTIN AWARD CEREMONY

My husband and I flew to Austin, TX to receive the Science Communication Award from the American Institute of Physics (AIP) for PLANET HUNTER. AIP’s Fred Dylla and Charles Blue were very gracious in their praises for PLANET HUNTER, and… Read the rest >>
 

PLANET HUNTER Honored by the American Institute of Physics

I just learned that the American Institute of Physics has granted its Science Communications Award to PLANET HUNTER. The award ceremony will be in Austin, TX on January 11th. Check out the link to the press release! AIP Science Communication… Read the rest >>
 

Planets Galore!

Planets are everywhere! A team of scientists operating NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope announced the detection of an astounding number of new planets — 1,235. In a front page article in the New York Times, reporter Dennis Overbye quoted Geoff Marcy,… Read the rest >>
 

SSLI Honor Book Award

I just learned that Planet Hunter was named a 2010 Honor Bookby the Society of School Librarians International (SSLI)! The purpose of the SSLI “is to speak singularly and forcefully for the unique needs of school librarians in the educational… Read the rest >>