Astronomy and data science

Hello... If you have been following my blogs, I discussed about stellar radii in my last blog. Stellar Radius is a key piece of information in the catalogues of many telescopes. It in general helps determining the size of the exoplanets and furthermore it gives a basic idea of the star itself. So...   . What is Stellar Radius?  Astronomers use the stellar radius as a unit of measurement to describe the size of stars in relation to the Sun. In simple terms, it is just used to measure the size of the star.   . How is Stellar Radius measured? Stellar Radius is measured through the luminosity and temperature through the Stefan-Boltzmann law. Yes, I know, it sounds complex but I will try to explain it in a much easier way.    So, what is Stefan Boltzmann law? This law describes and correlates power emitted by a black body with its temperature. It is given by  P=kAT 4      P=Power emitted by the star (Luminosity of the Star) k=Stefa...

We listen to a lot of news regarding discovery of new planets time to time. Ever wondered how so many planets are discovered ? How do we determine their sizes even though they are so far away? Well, there are two methods that are used popularly. The most common one that a lot of astronomers use is the Transit Method. Long gone are the days of Galileo or William Herschel method of using a telescope and sitting for hours and hours to possibly observe a planet. Nowadays, the integration of telescope with data science has made it much more easier. So, let's see how it works .. But before further diving in, a common question that our mind is provoked by is why do we need to even waste our time looking at sky to discover random planets? Well, the main reason is to find a possibility of life on other planets and to study their effects on other celestial beings. Yes, there is still a slight chance that there is some life out there and honestly, the discovery of even one such life could cha...