STRANGE NEW WORLDS

In this century and the last, astronomers have been announcing more and more precise discoveries in space — more than the increasing size and complexity of telescopes can account for! How can they present their findings with such confidence? Newly discovered planets! Not just the fact of a planet's existence but estimates on its size and density — how do they know? Even the Hubble telescope is limited to small pictures of stars (see photo). Planets can't be viewed directly.

Strange New Worlds: The Search for Alien Planets by Ray Jayawardhana (University of Toronto professor) answers these questions and explains how amateurs and professionals team together to make discoveries even in this time of space-based telescopes.

Photo: Close Up of Ancient, White Dwarf Stars in the Milky Way Galaxy

See also:
Jayawardhana on TVO
NASA: Microlensing