Word: star
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...throwback, an astronomer who studied the features of "bright stars," those visible to the naked eye. Ellen Dorrit Hoffleit was born in Florence, Ala., on March 12, 1907, 23 years before the discovery of Pluto. At Yale, she compiled The Bright Star Catalogue, which described the positions of stars as well as their color, brightness and motion. In 1957 she became director of the Maria Mitchell Observatory at Nantucket, Mass., where she mentored a generation of women who pursued astronomy careers. Hoffleit...
...dubbed Gliese 581c - has a decidedly extraterrestrial look. It is probably more than 1.5 times the diameter of Earth and five times heavier. But unlike our world, which orbits a comfortable 92.9 million miles from the flames of the sun, 581c hovers just 7 million miles from its home star. What prevents it from being incinerated like a match head is that its star is a red dwarf, only about one one-hundredth as bright as the sun. The dim light coupled with the planet's close proximity places it in what astronomers call the habitable zone: the spot...
...before we light the rockets. For one thing, just because the planet could have liquid water doesn't mean it does. The body was detected like all extrasolar planets initially are, not by direct observation, but by measuring the infinitesimal gravitational wobble it causes in its home star. We won't get a clearer sense of its makeup until its orbit carries it in front of the star and the brief interference in the wavelength and intensity of the incoming light allows us to make some inferences about its composition. This will also tell us if the planet...
Nearly 90 audience members walked out in the middle of a sold-out performance last Thursday at the American Repertory Theatre (ART) to protest the explicit language and subject matter, according to the show’s star, improvisational monologist Mike Daisey...
...confused—3EB? This millenium? Really? Like, they’re totally a good band and all (Mid-90s Locution Alert: “…NOT”). And I admire lead singer Stephan Jenkins’ long-term dedication to being an unrepentant rock star diva, even though he’s not actually a rock star anymore. But I’ve always thought that the point of Yardfest is to bring a band to campus that students keep liking even after their voices change. Middle school was only seven years ago, I guess...