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Feature Article

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Wow, it has been a while since I last posted. Sorry for the hiatus, but I've been on the road giving talks and observing, all the while writing papers and proposals.

Speaking of writing, last year I was invited to write a cover story for Sky & Telescope about the relationships between planets and their central stars. Different types of stars provide us with different opportunities to learn about planets. For example, stars more massive than the Sun are much more likely than dinky little red dwarfs to harbor a Jupiter-sized planet. This correlation between planet occurrence and stellar mass gives us clues about how planets form. However, if you want to find low-mass planets, the signposts of a planet's presence are much easier to read around M dwarfs (an eclipsing planet dims a small star more than a big star; small planets induce larger accelerations in smaller stars).

All this and more can be found in the April issue of Sky & Telescope. Grab a copy soon!

UPDATE: For some reason I cannot find the article in the online edition of S&T. But the print version should be on newsstands through the end of March (even though it's the April issue).
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jcom said…
JohnJohn that is AWESOME, congrats! Can't wait to read the feature article that gets its own cover and everything. Somebody drew a picture of a planet with two moons and a volcano just for you!!!
March 18, 2011 at 6:01 PM
Anonymous said…
Yea! Congrats on the feature article!

My kids think *our* planet has two moons... they see one, then another as they round the corner of the house. :)
March 18, 2011 at 9:29 PM
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