We have all probably wondered what other planets throughout the cosmos might look like. Now NASA’s Exoplanet Exploration Program (ExEP) lets you visualize each of the almost 4000 discovered planets outside the Solar System. There are not any actual photos of these exoplanets, but what little is known about them has been used to create a 3D multimedia speculative image for each one.
For some of those other worlds, ExEP’s Exoplanet Travel Bureau takes you on an immersive experience – a 360-degree panorama from the planet’s surface as scientists imagine it. NASA has also released a series of vintage travel posters for each of these planets, including 55 Cancri e – a world thought to be covered by an ocean of lava, and Kepler-16b – the first exoplanet discovered orbiting two stars.
The Vibrating Universe is a new astronomy outreach workshop created by the University of California, Riverside and the California School for the Deaf. It is aimed at those who suffer from hearing loss, numbering round 360 million worldwide and who are often overlooked when scientific outreach activities are designed.
The workshop uses the School’s on-site sound lab to turn the sounds from low-frequency cosmic phenomena into tangible vibrations that can be felt. The experience is made complete with the breathtaking imagery of outer space and takes students on a voyage taking off in a rocket from Earth, through a solar storm, and all the way to witnessing a supernova explosion.
At a ceremony in Buckingham Palace on 31 January James Hough from the University of Glasgow was knighted in recognition of his contribution to physics and astronomy. This has been the latest in a wide array of awards that both Hough and his colleagues have received since their contribution to the detection of gravitational waves back in 2015. Last year, for example, Hough was bestowed the Royal Astronomical Society’s highest honour – the Gold Medal.
Hough plays a key role in the LIGO experiment, which detected gravitational waves for the first time. You can read more about this discovery in this Physics World research update from early 2016.
