Finding habitable worlds need a dedicated instrument that does nothing else but tries to locate and characterize them. That’s where the Habitable Worlds Observatory comes in

Finding habitable worlds need a dedicated instrument that does nothing else but tries to locate and characterize them. That’s where the Habitable Worlds Observatory comes in
The James Webb Space Telescope has made its first observations of the TRAPPIST-1 system and measured the temperature of TRAPPIST-1b!
Did you know that the discovery of other planets in orbit around other stars is a very recent one? Only 25 years ago, we had no idea there were any planets in our galaxy besides those in our solar system. Now, not only have we discovered them, but astronomers estimate there are trillions of them. There are so many exoplanets out there that every star in our galaxy could have at least one.
Kepler-22b is one of the first exoplanets confirmed by the Kepler Space Telescope that resides in the habitable zone.
Here is the Eagle nebula taken using off-the-shelf equipment available to the amateur astronomer. So what instrument can we use see the Pillars of Creation with amateur astronomy telescopes?
Dustin talks about his experiences with the new iOptron equatorial mounts. And Tony wonders about the effects of LED streetlights on our night skies.