Explore Exoplanets: The Discoverers

💙 An Avatar of Pandora? 💙

Did the movie Avatar predict the discovery of the holy grail of exoplanets: a nearby Earth-like rocky planet orbiting a Sun-like star? Drs. Jessie Christiansen and Ashley Chontos continue their conversation about Ashley's favorite fictional planet—and Jessie reveals whether she's found Pandora's closest real-world analog in the NASA Exoplanet Archive.

Worth the Wait 🛰️⏳📅🪐

NASA's planet-hunting Kepler Telescope found its first planet candidate in 2009. Ten years later, KOI-4.01 was finally confirmed as an exoplanet by a team led by Dr. Ashley Chontos. The confirmation provided some bittersweet closure for the Kepler mission and also brought Ashley fame and fortune 😎 (well, for astronomers, anyway 🤓). In this episode, Jessie chats with Ashley about the series of fortunate events that led to the discovery—and also her favorite fictional planet!

Hollywood 🎥 vs. Kepler-22 b 🪐

Jessie returns to her chat with Dr. Bruce Macintosh, Director of the University of California Observatories, and he explains why Kepler-22 b is his LEAST favorite exoplanet—even though its 2011 discovery made international news and was featured in the HBO Max series "Raised by Wolves."

Exoplanet Trifecta: Seeing and Believing 🤩👀🔭🪐🪐🪐

What is it like to spend eight years chasing down hundreds of possible planets that turn out to be false positives, and then discover three planets at once? It takes a special kind of believer—and skeptic—to find planets using the direct imaging method. Dr. Bruce Macintosh, Director of the University of California Observatories, describes how he became a believer in the HR 8799 system. Also in this episode: Bruce's LEAST favorite exoplanet!

A Planet Around a Dead, Spinning Star 🌀😵‍💫

How realistic is the science in Interstellar, and have we found anything close to an actual Miller's Planet? In part 2 of Jessie's interview with Dr. David Kipping, they chat about time dilation, water worlds, and sneaking science lessons in Hollywood movies. David also answers a question from our viewers!

Dr. David Kipping of Columbia University, host of the popular Cool Worlds Podcast, is looking beyond exoplanets: he's set his sights on finding exomoons! Watch and find out which exoplanet David thinks might have its own moon. Also, can you guess David's favorite fictional exoplanet? (Hint: It doesn't have a moon.)

Is Middle Earth an Exoplanet? 🧝🧙🧭📜🏰⛰️🌋🪐

In part 2 of her interview, Dr. Emily Gilbert makes a convincing case that Middle Earth in the Lord of the Rings series is actually its own planet! Watch and tell us if you agree (or not).

What's better than discovering an exoplanet? How about discovering THREE exoplanets...all at once! Early-career researcher Dr. Emily Gilbert talks about the exoplanet bonanza of the TOI-700 system that made headline news around the world in 2020. Emily also reveals her favorite fictional planet (heads-up, Tolkien fans! 🧝).

Is there a planet near the center of our galaxy like Trantor? Jessie shares what she's found in the NASA Exoplanet Archive, and Peter answers a viewer question: "How old do stars have to be to have planets?"

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All Roads Lead to AU Mic ⛔🔭🪐

Despite denial, discouragement and telemarketing jobs, Dr. Peter Plavchan found a path to a career in astronomy...and a famous exoplanet! Join Jessie as she chats with Peter about how he discovered AU Mic b in plain sight.