It’s late summer here - and getting further delinquent on posting here - blame on the vertebrae and the thesis writing! Things are in progress, but it might be a bit before I report things here… Meanwhile just remember:

‘red dwarfs are the future of exoplanet study’

(image courtesy Elowitz Mark). Soon I will update the site - promise… got sidetracked by a run in on a commute recently… Meanwhike, have a play with this Site… and perhaps go have a look at the place where I got the above image, HERE. Markelowitz does a good job discussing the math behind detection methods, and habitable zones….. and I will get back when I get a bit more “recovered”… Thanks!

I have been completely remiss in updating the goings-on, here on the GEMSS blog - my poor excuse is that it’s been pretty busy at work… Suffice it to say, we have some plans for narrowing the GEMSS search via space-borne, astrometric means (using a focal plane upgrade to OBSS [also see here & Here], and preceded by our MAPS maps mission to develop the focal plane arrays) …. more on that later….

We also have divergent irons in the fire to take a look at HD 80606, again, with David Blank, Joe Lazio, and Dave Boboltz and myself — this time with VLA, during its planet’s stormy periastron passage … while Greg Laughlin (who came up with the whole idea), Drake Deming, and Jonathan Langton go after it with Spitzer. As well we are working up our “part B” results on the red dwarf GL 876, the visual stuff last reported here; but this time we were in the 3 and 7 mm bands (using the venerable VLA and ATCA instruments in 2005)… We were looking for debris and dust back then…

But that’s not really GEMSS…. Promise, we’ll get relevant GEMSS thoughts out there soon! I also hear Dave Charbonneau is looking to begin a .3-m network, red dwarf search, too, as are the XO guys - good news! And the radio astronomy may start to open up on M dwarf rocky planets, too. Also some great feedback from Chile (check out the videos, and agenda)…. Meanwhile, seems to be a good thread going on about GEMSS over at Centauri Dreams! Great to see the discussion!

Til I get back, enjoy David Blank & Bandu Jayawardene’s ESO Workshop poster from Santiago (click to enlarge):

oh and for those who want to hear or read more about the new Gl 581 discovery, have a look at:

And:

A link if the above Video fails

A pre-print paper

And the PlanetQuest report

Also: