Fantastic Planets and Where To Find Them, Emily Brunsdale, University of York, Lit and Phil Newcastle
Yoga is about union with the universe, so it seemed pertinent to go to a talk and learn more about the galaxy we live in.
Presented as a travel guide to space, (complete with retro style travel poster images), we learnt how we find new planets orbiting other stars (the science bit) and which ones really should be on your bucket list, if you have the time (a spare 100 light years or so) and the money (a trifling £50 trillion or more, for each trip…)
To date 3890 exoplanets have been found and with new spacecraft already out there and in the pipeline, this is set to increase exponentially.
Recommended trips include:
51 Pegasi b – this was the first ever exoplanet found, so a bit of a must see.
Kepler 16 b – has two suns, so you get two shadows and two sunsets.
Kepler 186 f – possibly has red vegetation as the light from the star is predominantly red and vegetation may reflect that light. Apparently our own sun gives off light mainly from the green spectrum and this is reflected out by plants on earth.
Trappist-1 System – has 7 planets all in the same orbit. All the planets are ‘tidally locked’ which means they always show the same face to their host star. As a result they are hot on one side and freezing cold on the other.
PSO J318.5-22 – is a rogue planet with no host star! Permanent darkness, permanent party planet!
LHS 3844 b – orbits its host star in 11 hours. Birthdays twice a ‘day’. You’ll be blowing out candles at breakfast and bedtime!
