The Rock 50 Light-Years Away

The Rock 50 Light-Years Away

July 16, 2026 · 57 min · Season 6 · Episode 16

About this episode

The episode discusses the discovery of a rocky planet 50 light-years away and its implications in exoplanet science.

What if you could tell whether a rock exists on a planet 50 light-years away — without ever leaving Earth? This week Chris and Jesse welcome back friend-of-the-show Dr. Jackie Faherty (American Museum of Natural History) for her fourth appearance to talk about one of the wildest results in exoplanet science yet. The crew digs into a new Nature Astronomy paper on a rocky planet about 30% larger than Earth, orbiting a tiny star, whipping around fast with a scorching ~1,000 Kelvin surface and — ...

People in this episode

Hosts: Chris, Jesse

Guest: Dr. Jackie Faherty

Topics covered

Keywords

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: American Museum of Natural History

Books & works: Nature Astronomy

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