*cough* A little bit of extra info to add here:
There's only one transit, so the true period is unknown. It could be anywhere between 300 and 550 days.
This is an exciting candidate! But (a) we don't know if it's real, and (b) we don't know what its temperature is if it IS real.
New planet just dropped and it
1) is almost exactly Earth-sized
2) has a year that's almost exactly 1 Earth year.
3) orbits a star that is not a 💢temperamental little shit M-dwarf 💢but is instead a 🧡 good orange boi 🧡
Me for @science.org based on results presented at #RockyWorlds4: 🔭🧪
Beaming a lightsail to the stars demands a sail that can stand up to huge accelerations while remaining stable and on course. Holography is one solution. A flat sail carrying the holographic surface of a curved one is now being explored as a solution. www.centauri-dreams.org/2026/01/28/h...
David Kipping's TARS:
-Dive into the Sun
-Install a large graphene lightsail-tether
-Spend nearly a year spinning up
...just to throw a phone-sized payload at 10-40 km/s
This concept is just a curiosity and has no potential for interstellar missions.
arxiv.org/pdf/2507.17615
That’s a wrap on #SciTech2026. Plenty of interest and sharp conversations around our work on beamed‑energy propulsion and solar‑wind surfing. Feels good to leave a mark on the Space Coast.
A great intro to the science communication challenge facing interstellar travel, from 'Dust Guy' @a-j-higgins.bsky.social at @irg-space.bsky.social:
youtu.be/10Zx67TmHa4
The FAQ has been compiled here: interstellarflight.space/faq/
Our group is at #SciTech2026 this week presenting our latest research on laser-thermal propulsion and solar-wind-sailing propulsion.
Self-steering mass beams that can be focused on spots of ~100m across 1000 AU:
sacramentol5society.nss.org/wp-content/u...
These would be composed of 1 micron spinning 'smart particles' that reflect or absorb external laser pulses to counter dispersion, enabling easy interstellar propulsion.
Inside the Conversations Shaping Humanity’s Interstellar Future
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLaEYPgNFlkhZ5EHqBHZeA8fF33jhRjT83
#IRG2025 #InterstellarSymposium #InterstellarResearch #SpaceExploration #DeepSpace #FutureOfSpace #InterstellarTravel
Let’s proceed to engage this mission. Among all proposed deep‑space initiatives, none are more demanding in terms of propulsion, precision, and endurance than a mission to the Solar Gravitational Lens—but the scientific return would be incredible.
www.science.org/content/arti...
Here's a short (2 minute) NASA video on a laser-driven interstellar swarm, published a few months ago...
( Thanks to @bargill33.bsky.social for the link !)
youtu.be/XXW_keR5OIM?...
Big new (at least for me): I’m on sabbatical leave from McGill this year and working full-time with General Fusion in Vancouver. With 2026 shaping up to be a pivot year for commercial fusion, I’m excited to be on-site and contributing directly to the effort.
Someone was asking what the interstellar medium around the Sun looks like in 3D. Here's a quick render. I might add an improved version of this to a room in my Star Central VR world.
Brown: dust, red: ionized gas, blue: hot stars.
Unfiltered glimpses of our solar system revealed through raw, breathtaking images. Our group works with one goal in mind: to someday capture such images from other solar systems.
Now on @sciam.bsky.social: NASA’s next-gen Habitable Worlds Observatory may be our best chance to find alien life. But can a nation busy ripping itself apart unite to launch a mission to solve life’s cosmic mysteries? By @nadiadrake.bsky.social (and me).
www.scientificamerican.com/article/are-...
“How a Billionaire’s Plan to Reach Another Star Fell Apart”
Our group is still at it, stubbornly in the trenches, steadily chipping away at the key problems that must be solved to reach the nearest stars. The work continues. Onward!
www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-...
Now on @sciam.bsky.social: For the 1st time, we’ve seen hints of an atmosphere around a potentially habitable exoplanet. If confirmed, this would be a monumental discovery, opening a new era in the search for life beyond Earth. By @astrojonny.bsky.social.
www.scientificamerican.com/article/jwst...
Jake Kurlander - talking about the predicted LSST asteroid and TNO discoveries - 80% Solar System small bodies will be discovered in the first two years #EPSCDPS2025
A schematic of an interstellar objects orbit through the solar system, complete with a listing of the types of observations we can take of the object (and when we could take them) overlaid at the top.
Michelle's final paper investigates interstellar objects (such as the 3 detected interstellar comets) for signs of alien technosignatures! So far, all 3 objects are comets, but if there were a probe out there, how could we find out? This paper outlines the methods. 🔭 ☄️ arxiv.org/abs/2508.16825
We’re reading “Lightsails for Interstellar Travel: Photonics for Propulsion, Thermal Management and Stability”
pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...
Issue 50 of Principium is now published
- Lead Feature : BOOK REVIEW, The Ross 248 Project.
- Project Hyperion
- Breakthrough Disc
- "Where do you look for ET"
- IAC25
- The Journals
- Interstellar News
.. and more !
Read it here : - i4is.org/principium-50/
Editor: @johninghamdavies.bsky.social
Reduce the radiation load by more than half, increase efficiency by 20% and make ignition easier by using spin-polarization in a fusion rocket, which aligns the DT fuel atoms and make their neutron release directional.
By @gbruhaug.bsky.social:
arxiv.org/pdf/2108.01211
Technosignature Searches Of Interstellar Objects
astrobiology.com/2025/08/tech... #astrobiology #3IATLAS #interstellar #SETI
Congratulations to Space Concordia Rocketry Division on the successful launch of Starsailor, featuring the largest student-built bipropellant rocket engine ever flown (35 kN thrust). The launch occurred approximately 1 hr 16 mins into the livestream linked below.
www.youtube.com/live/610YciE...
We're reading (and hoping for a successful flyby target🤞🤞):
"An Extremely Deep Rubin Survey to Explore the Extended Kuiper Belt and Identify Objects Observable by New Horizons" by @megschwamb.bsky.social
doi.org/10.3847/1538...
Why were we able to see the spiral rocket plume last night, but not during other rocket launches?
The time of day, the Sun’s light, and the direction the rocket heads into space causes this effect…
One of the members of our research group was out watching the Perseids on Tuesday night in Montreal and captured these images of the plume.
A Saturn mass gas giant may be orbiting Alpha Centauri A, based on solid JWST infrared results and exhaustive simulations of its orbit. It's still a candidate rather than a confirmed world, but follow-up work will tell us soon. www.centauri-dreams.org/2025/08/08/a...
Direct images from the James Webb Space Telescope show what could be a Saturn-mass planet around Alpha Centauri.
skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-ne...
.
.
#astronomy #exoplanets #planetaryscience #cosmology #alphacentauri #jwst #newplanet
I have a complaint about Avi Loeb's latest work and I want to speak to management.
medium.com/@steve.desch...
