Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Steve Costa @stevec72.bsky.social · 6h

Try it on 83 Leonis, a binary 59 ly away with two planets on the B star: starcarta.app/o/tQlX

Steve Costa @stevec72.bsky.social · 6h

🛰️ Starcarta Update 1.4!

✨ New:
- Star focus

Stars in multiple systems can be far apart making it difficult to zoom in. Now by clicking on a Star’s name, you can zoom in on that star and its planets. Clicking the Star’s name again toggles you back to the the System.

#space #astronomy #indiedev

1 5

Steve Costa @stevec72.bsky.social · 1d

I actually have a brief thread on that here bsky.app/profile/stev.... I love when SciFi meets science.

Steve Costa @stevec72.bsky.social · Jul 13

So why do stars have multiple names like HD 122303, Gliese 536, HIP 68469, Luyten 979-36, or telephone book entries like Gaia DR1 3657653144944789504? Let's dig into it... starcarta.app?q=HD%20122303

(1/6) #space #starcarta #asronomy

1

Steve Costa @stevec72.bsky.social · 14d

Recently, JWT studied Trappist-1e’s atmosphere ruling out a Venus or Mars-like atmosphere but leaving water possible for future studies. science.nasa.gov/missions/web... Check it at starcarta.app/o/jkSG - you can also see how all of the 7 discovered planets are less than 1 au from Trappist-1

1

Steve Costa @stevec72.bsky.social · 15d

1 AU Graph
Orbits can be hard to compare. Toggle a dotted circle at Earth’s orbit (1 AU) around stars to make comparisons easier. Helps show scale since stars give few clues about size. (4/4) Try it out at starcarta.app

Steve Costa @stevec72.bsky.social · 15d

Tag Highlighting!
Click a Tag to highlight all Star Systems linked to it, then click a System name to travel there. Get a good perspective of the set in 3D space around us. (3/4)

1

Steve Costa @stevec72.bsky.social · 15d

First: Tags!
Add a tag to any star system to categorize it by feature (Gas Planets, Rings), multiplicity (Binary, Triple), or movie franchise (Alien, Star Trek, Dune). Anything you like! (2/4)

1

Steve Costa @stevec72.bsky.social · 15d

🛰️ Starcarta update 1.3 is here!
✨ New:
- Tags!
- Highlight Systems by Tag.
- Added 1 AU graph circle to all Systems with planets to show scale. (1/4)
#Starcarta #indiedev #astronomy #space starcarta.app

1 1 9

Steve Costa @stevec72.bsky.social · Sep 7

Whelp, time to see how the reboot is coming along then. youtube.com/@undergradst...

YouTube

Watch our attempt to resurrect UNDERGRADS, a long gone (but somehow not forgotten) cult, animated series in the form of a feature length film. Join creator Pete Williams as he shares the Good, the Bad, the Ugly - and the Boring Technical Stuff - on his epic journey to make an animated movie from his basement!

youtube.com

1 1

Steve Costa @stevec72.bsky.social · Aug 25

This week’s star is Gliese 163, a red dwarf with at least 3 planets (up to 5). One, Gliese 163c, is a 7-Earth-mass world near the habitable zone. The light we see from it today began its trip 49 years ago, the same year & maybe even day I was born. I think that’s pretty cool!

starcarta.app/o/CXJPq

1 3

Steve Costa @stevec72.bsky.social · Aug 8

The Habitable Zone of our solar system, which is between 0.99au & 1.70au includes both Earth & Mars (even though Mars is too small to hold enough atmosphere) but excludes the runaway greenhouse Venus. Interestingly, you can see how the Earth is just balanced on the inner edge.
starcarta.app/o/B

1 2

Steve Costa @stevec72.bsky.social · Aug 6

GL581 is a low-activity, stable M-class star. It has 2 candidate planets well positioned in their HZ, GL581 b & GL581 c. GL581 b is a 6 Me super-earth, zipping around every 5 days, while GL581 c is a more reasonable 2 Me planet, taking 13 days to complete an orbit. starcarta.app/o/JdJCb #astronomy

1

Steve Costa @stevec72.bsky.social · Aug 5

For a pretty good HZ match, we can check out HD 40307 g, a massive 7 Me super-earth in the habitable zone of its 1 billion year old K-Class star. It’s a great candidate to explore in the future, and not too far away at 42 light years away. starcarta.app/o/CXSGM #space #astronomy

1

Steve Costa @stevec72.bsky.social · Aug 4

Gliese 667 Cc is also a 4 Me super-earth w/ an orbit right in the middle of its Red Dwarf’s HZ. Gliese 667 Cf, Gliese 667 Ce are not confirmed, but could also be in Gliese 667 C’s HZ. So Gliese 667 C might have multiple habitable worlds, at just 24 light years from Sol. #space
starcarta.app/o/CJCWm

1 1

Steve Costa @stevec72.bsky.social · Aug 3

Tau Ceti has come up before, checking its HZ shows Tau Ceti e is slightly too close & Tau Ceti f (4 earth mass) is on the outer fringes. However, Tau Ceti f’s orbit dips it in & out of the zone during its 636-day orbit / half-year-long winter if it’s able to hold an atmosphere.
starcarta.app/o/hkBp

1 1

Steve Costa @stevec72.bsky.social · Aug 3

RK Kopparapu + team’s articles build on & refine the work of Kasting in 1993 to determine where this zone around a star could be. HZs are then determined from the star’s output (ex luminosity), adjusting for its temp as well as (optionally) the mass of the planet. Check them out in starcarta.app

Starcarta

Explore the stars and planets of our local 200ly space in 3D. Discover star systems, planets, and their unique features. Search for celestial objects and learn about their properties in Starcarta.

starcarta.app

Steve Costa @stevec72.bsky.social · Aug 3

Starcarta release 1.12!
Now w/Habitable Zones! So what is a star’s HZ? It’s the space around a star where a rocky planet can have surface water, assuming atmosphere & sufficient gravity. Avoiding either runaway greenhouses or where CO₂ can't keep the planet sufficiently warm. #space #starcarta (1/2)

1 2

Steve Costa @stevec72.bsky.social · Jul 20

HD 20781 has 4 known planets (2 Gas Giants and 2 Super-earths) and 9000au away is HD 20782, with at least 1 planet having the single highest eccentricity of all known exoplanets. Have a look at them in 3D on starcarta.app/o/QgvX. (2/2) #astronomy #space #starcarta

Starcarta

Explore the stars and planets of our local 200ly space in 3D. Discover star systems, planets, and their unique features. Search for celestial objects and learn about their properties in Starcarta.

starcarta.app

2

Steve Costa @stevec72.bsky.social · Jul 20

Today’s system is HD 20782/HD 20781 which form a twice notable wide-binary system w/2 sunlike stars. Their system is the first found binary where each star has planets, which is unusual as one of the stars tends to disrupt the initial planet-forming disks of their companions. (1/2) #astronomy #space

Steve Costa @stevec72.bsky.social · Jul 14

Starcarta version 1.06 released! 🌟
- URL now shows the system you're with a short code in for easy sharing.

System of day: Epsilon Tauri!
starcarta.app/?o=RvdN

With a great view of the star packed Hyades cluster, is the huge & super bright G-star Ain and planet Amateru. #starcarta #astronomy

2

Steve Costa @stevec72.bsky.social · Jul 13

Let me know if I missed any, and enjoy exploring these systems and more in Starcarta.
starcarta.app
(6/6)

Starcarta

Explore the stars and planets of our local 200ly space in 3D. Discover star systems, planets, and their unique features. Search for celestial objects and learn about their properties in Starcarta.

starcarta.app

Steve Costa @stevec72.bsky.social · Jul 13

The IAU now names stars from many cultures: Xuange (Chinese), Poerava (Māori), Larawag (Wardaman), Titawin (Berber).
iau.org/WG280/WG280/...

starcarta.app?q=Lamda%20Bo...

starcarta.app?q=HD%20221287

starcarta.app?q=Epsilon%20...

starcarta.app?q=Upsilon%20...
(5/6)

Starcarta

Explore the stars and planets of our local 200ly space in 3D. Discover star systems, planets, and their unique features. Search for celestial objects and learn about their properties in Starcarta.

starcarta.app

1

Steve Costa @stevec72.bsky.social · Jul 13

Some stars like Vega, Alcor, and Muphrid have classical names from Arabic, Latin, or Greek roots, passed down through history.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...

starcarta.app?q=Eta%20Bo%C...
(4/6)

1

Steve Costa @stevec72.bsky.social · Jul 13

Bayer names use Greek/Latin letters or numbers + constellation names, like Sigma Boötis. Originally, letters followed brightness: alpha = brightest, beta = 2nd, etc. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayer_d...

starcarta.app?q=Sigma%20Bo...
(3/6)

1

Steve Costa @stevec72.bsky.social · Jul 13

Stars named like HD 20128311 follow a “catalog prefix + number” format. Here, HD = Henry Draper Catalogue, and the number is the star’s entry in it. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_ca...

starcarta.app?q=HD%20128311
(2/6)

1