Decoding the Chemical Fingerprints of Stars When you look at a star, you are seeing a massive, uncontrolled nuclear fusion reactor. While stars appear to be simple points of light, they are complex laboratories that hold the recipe for the entire periodic table. Astronomers do not need to touch these distant bodies to understand what … Read more
How Do Astronomers Study the Composition of Planets? Determining the chemical makeup of a distant world is not about guesswork. Astronomers use a rigorous combination of light physics, orbital mechanics, and direct robotic exploration. Because we cannot visit most exoplanets, we treat the entire universe as a giant laboratory where the laws of physics are … Read more
How do we know what the Sun is made of? You look up at the Sun and see a brilliant, featureless light. Yet, you are actually looking at a massive nuclear furnace composed of a specific cocktail of elements. We know exactly what is inside this sphere without ever having taken a physical sample. Astronomers … Read more
