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Paul Gilster

@gilster.bsky.social

304 followers 43 following 136 posts

Writer/editor Centauri Dreams

Posts Replies Media

Paul Gilster @gilster.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

A white dwarf star would offer billions of years of habitable conditions for a planet in the right place (very close to the star). We've just found evidence of new planet formation around a white dwarf. Interesting! How often does this happen? www.centauri-dreams.org/2026/10/07/m...

centauri-dreams.org

Musings on White Dwarfs and Planetary Survival | Centauri Dreams

Paul Gilster @gilster.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Using photosynthesis to answer Fermi. Interesting paper argues that planets billions of years older than ours may still be in microbial life stage because of surface conditions, particularly around red dwarfs. Is advanced life limited to G-class systems? www.centauri-dreams.org/2026/10/02/p...

centauri-dreams.org

Photosynthesis: A New Angle into Fermi’s Paradox? | Centauri Dreams

Paul Gilster @gilster.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Sakurai's Object is a rarity, a star changing so fast that we can detect changes year to year. Highly unusual and a laboratory for processes involved in stars like our sun transforming into white dwarfs at the end of their lives. www.centauri-dreams.org/2026/09/24/s...

centauri-dreams.org

Sakurai’s Object: A Stellar Rebirth | Centauri Dreams

Paul Gilster @gilster.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Keep an eye on the Pandora space telescope. Small mission targets 20 exoplanets, observing transits, gathering data on their atmospheres, & weeding out stellar contaminating noise. Should be most accurate atmospheric data yet for exoplanets. Complements JWST. www.centauri-dreams.org/2026/09/09/p...

centauri-dreams.org

Pandora: Tuning Up our Data on Exoplanet Atmospheres | Centauri Dreams

Paul Gilster @gilster.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

An interstellar mission by crowdsourcing? Fermi Explorer would be built on the cheap and take 80,000 years to reach Alpha Centauri. Odd notion, but some interesting use of AI to work out trajectory solutions at perihelion, allowing higher velocities outbound. www.centauri-dreams.org/2026/09/02/f...

centauri-dreams.org

Fermi Explorer: Building the First Mission to Another Star? | Centauri Dreams

Paul Gilster @gilster.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

If we ever do receive a message from the stars, can we figure it out? Alex Tolley takes the issue on, pointing out language issues even between humans, not to mention animals. How much of the experience of an alien species could we truly understand? www.centauri-dreams.org/2026/08/14/t...

centauri-dreams.org

The Limits of Understanding Between Species, and the Issue for Interstellar Communication | Centauri Dreams

Paul Gilster @gilster.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

The ratchet effect: How do we lock in scientific advance to prevent civilizational backsliding? Ian Brownlie offers a take on the Fermi Paradox that draws in Hanson's 'great filter' concept and might just explain the lack of observable ET civilizations: www.centauri-dreams.org/2026/08/06/t...

centauri-dreams.org

The Ones Who Look Outward | Centauri Dreams

Paul Gilster @gilster.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

Moon or planet? The object around CD-35 2722B is definitely not an exomoon. But what to call a planet orbiting a brown dwarf that in turn orbits a red dwarf star? 'Planet' sounds right to me. More in today's Centauri Dreams: www.centauri-dreams.org/2026/07/23/m...

centauri-dreams.org

Moon or Planet? The Awkward Case of CD-35 2722B | Centauri Dreams

Paul Gilster @gilster.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

I'm finishing up a piece on this too, Chris. It's a planet as far as I'm concerned. But the nomenclature problem is clearly going to sow confusion for a long while.

Paul Gilster @gilster.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

Useful propulsion upgrade via MIT, allowing both chemical & electric thrusters in the same package. Should add major capabilities to smallsats as miniaturization shrinks payload size & weight wherever possible. Demonstrator mission upcoming in November. www.centauri-dreams.org/2026/07/17/n...

centauri-dreams.org

New Propulsion Systems for Deep Space Smallsats | Centauri Dreams

Paul Gilster @gilster.bsky.social · 10/07/2026

Self-replicating technologies that destroy civilizations are one (dark) answer to the Fermi Paradox. Tipler used the idea to declare ET civilizations do not exist. But such probes may be impossible to build. Peter Marinko explains on today's Centauri Dreams: www.centauri-dreams.org/2026/07/10/a...

centauri-dreams.org

A Metallurgist’s Doubts About Self-Replicating Probes | Centauri Dreams

Paul Gilster @gilster.bsky.social · 03/07/2026

New Horizons is moving toward the 'termination shock,' where the solar wind slows dramatically and the heliopause is not far away. Beyond that is interstellar space. More on what NH is telling us about the heliosphere and its implications for future probes: www.centauri-dreams.org/2026/07/03/n...

centauri-dreams.org

New Horizons: Pushing Toward the ‘Termination Shock’ | Centauri Dreams

Paul Gilster @gilster.bsky.social · 24/06/2026

Our galaxy could be filled with probes moving at .10 lightspeed in 650,000 years. Thus the 'where are they' problem. David Kipping now examines the problem at the cosmological scale. Travel between galaxies? The Fermi problem gets worse. www.centauri-dreams.org/2026/06/24/t...

centauri-dreams.org

The Intergalactic Fermi Problem | Centauri Dreams

Paul Gilster @gilster.bsky.social · 19/06/2026

An unusual planetary system at HD 39474 includes an outer brown dwarf that shapes the orbits of two coplanar planets - one a gas giant - closer to their central star. This one challenges conventional thinking on gas giant formation. www.centauri-dreams.org/2026/06/19/h...

centauri-dreams.org

HD 39474: A Brown Dwarf Shapes a Planetary System | Centauri Dreams

Paul Gilster @gilster.bsky.social · 11/06/2026

An outstanding contribution to interstellar studies now available. Coryn Baler-Jones' The Physics of Interstellar Travel is a college/grad school level textbook w/ quantitative analysis of every aspect of flight to another star. 1st textbook devoted to topic. www.centauri-dreams.org/2026/06/11/t...

centauri-dreams.org

The Physics of Interstellar Travel | Centauri Dreams

Paul Gilster @gilster.bsky.social · 06/06/2026

Comms specialist Dean Zierman considers technosignature strategies in recent work & adds serious skepticism about megastructure concepts. Refining of SETI to include archival & observational astronomy continues as field evolves. www.centauri-dreams.org/2026/06/05/o...

centauri-dreams.org

Observations on ‘The Search for Technosignatures: A Review of Possibilities’ | Centauri Dreams

Paul Gilster @gilster.bsky.social · 30/05/2026

Technosignatures by the score are being considered for possible detection. How to search for each? An excellent & lengthy new paper from Clement Vidal & team goes through work up to this point & suggests future directions. Indispensable summary document. www.centauri-dreams.org/2026/05/30/e...

centauri-dreams.org

Evolving Strategies in the Search for Extraterrestrial Civilizations | Centauri Dreams

Paul Gilster @gilster.bsky.social · 30/05/2026

I've noticed the same thing, David. Learned that lesson one memorable evening in Bath and became a far more cautious pedestrian!

Paul Gilster @gilster.bsky.social · 22/05/2026

Interstellar clouds of gas & dust mark deep space as anything but empty. Relativistic spacecraft must factor in dust impacts or perhaps use interstellar hydrogen as reaction mass. Two new papers analyze 'turbulence' in deep space & Local Interstellar Cloud. www.centauri-dreams.org/2026/05/22/t...

centauri-dreams.org

Turbulence Between the Stars | Centauri Dreams

Paul Gilster @gilster.bsky.social · 15/05/2026

Przybylski’s Star may be the strangest object we've yet observed. Is it a technosignature? Very short-lived ultra-heavy elements like actinium, plutonium show up here. How? What is making these reactions on a stellar surface? Sagan had a thought on this. www.centauri-dreams.org/2026/05/15/p...

centauri-dreams.org

Przybylski’s Star: Still Bizarre After All These Years | Centauri Dreams

Paul Gilster @gilster.bsky.social · 09/05/2026

A 'swarm' strategy for reaching Proxima Centauri, building on work at JPL and Breakthrough Starshot & moving into entirely new territory for optics & communications. A seriously innovative paper reviewed today on Centauri Dreams. Significant work. www.centauri-dreams.org/2026/05/09/a...

centauri-dreams.org

A Deeper Dive into the Proxima Centauri Swarm | Centauri Dreams

Paul Gilster @gilster.bsky.social · 24/04/2026

Dyson spheres & 'swarms' are theoretically great ways to harvest a star's energies, but are they stable? I look at new work by Colin McInnes on stability in a variety of huge constructs including stellar engines. Short answer: Stable only with great care. www.centauri-dreams.org/2026/04/24/s...

centauri-dreams.org

Stability of Interstellar ‘Big Dumb Objects’ | Centauri Dreams

Paul Gilster @gilster.bsky.social · 01/04/2026

Jim Benford amplifies on Starshot's Phase I successes w/ video discuission available here www.youtube.com/@beyondcente.... Slides & commentary making case for reaching Alpha Centauri within this century. Beamed sails as only practical way for making this happen. Next: Testing in Starshot Phase 2.

Paul Gilster @gilster.bsky.social · 26/03/2026

Looking for habitable planets in very unlikely places. Speculations on red giant & even white dwarf prospects for living worlds. Can a sufficiently advanced technology move its home planet? www.centauri-dreams.org/2026/03/25/i...

centauri-dreams.org

Interstellar Choices: Where to Look for Habitability? | Centauri Dreams

Paul Gilster @gilster.bsky.social · 10/03/2026

Wrapping up Starshot's success at Phase I with a detailed look at the advances made in materials, laser array physics and communications, much of it available in journals from the Starshot scientists, and more papers from other sources coming. www.centauri-dreams.org/2026/03/10/s...

centauri-dreams.org

Starshot Is a Success (Part II) | Centauri Dreams

Paul Gilster @gilster.bsky.social · 04/03/2026

Don't dismiss Breakthrough Starshot, media reports to the contrary. Jim Benford w/ spirited defense of what Phase 1 accomplished. I'll be running part 2 of this piece early next week. Solid work on lightsail, laser beamer, data return. Over 50 published papers www.centauri-dreams.org/2026/03/03/s...

centauri-dreams.org

Starshot Is a Success: Part I | Centauri Dreams

Paul Gilster @gilster.bsky.social · 26/02/2026

Pondering the language of contact if we ever do confront ETI. Ted Chiang's wonderful Story of Your Life features aliens whose language is non-linear & transcends time. Consequences for SETI if we ever run into anything this bizarre. And we might. www.centauri-dreams.org/2026/02/25/t...

centauri-dreams.org

The Language of Contact | Centauri Dreams

Paul Gilster @gilster.bsky.social · 17/02/2026

How to reach the Solar Gravitational Lens? Propulsion options carefully dissected in new paper out of JPL. Sundiver trajectories, solar sails or possibly nuclear electric and hybrid missions now under discussion. 2035-2040 possible launch, but it's tight. www.centauri-dreams.org/2026/02/17/p...

centauri-dreams.org

Propulsion Options for the Solar Gravitational Lens Mission | Centauri Dreams

Paul Gilster @gilster.bsky.social · 06/02/2026

Astronomers are applying a new technique to study archival radio telescope data at low frequencies. Remarkable method may allow sweeping surveys of nearby stars, detecting star-planet interactions. Several early detections discussed on Centauri Dreams. www.centauri-dreams.org/2026/02/06/a...

centauri-dreams.org

A New Tool for Exoplanet Detection and Characterization | Centauri Dreams

Paul Gilster @gilster.bsky.social · 28/01/2026

Beaming a lightsail to the stars demands a sail that can stand up to huge accelerations while remaining stable and on course. Holography is one solution. A flat sail carrying the holographic surface of a curved one is now being explored as a solution. www.centauri-dreams.org/2026/01/28/h...

centauri-dreams.org

Holography: Shaping a Diffractive Sail | Centauri Dreams

Paul Gilster @gilster.bsky.social · 20/01/2026

Why the continued silence from SETI? Eduardo Carmona lays out factors that imply life is abundant but technology vanishingly scarce. Fermi's famous question is answered by constraints the universe presents. Keep looking, in other words, but be realistic. www.centauri-dreams.org/2026/01/20/c...

centauri-dreams.org

Cellular Cosmic Isolation: When the Universe Seeds Life but Civilizations Stay Silent | Centauri Dreams

Paul Gilster @gilster.bsky.social · 14/01/2026

Pandora space telescope, now in space and going through system checks, will offer multiwavelength study of exoplanets transiting their stars. Highly important because we can filter misleading stellar noise from atmospheric data. www.centauri-dreams.org/2026/01/14/p...

centauri-dreams.org

Pandora: Exoplanets at Multiple Wavelengths | Centauri Dreams

Paul Gilster @gilster.bsky.social · 17/12/2025

David Kipping, brilliant Columbia astrophysicist, offers new take on SETI strategies called Eschatian Hypothesis. I explore its ramifications on today's Centauri Dreams. Is a truly ancient civilization indistinguishable not just from magic but from nature? www.centauri-dreams.org/2025/12/17/n...

centauri-dreams.org

New Uses for the Eschaton | Centauri Dreams

Paul Gilster @gilster.bsky.social · 09/12/2025

TRAPPIST-1, with its seven transiting planets - three in the habitable zone - is attracting plenty of work. I look at recent papers on whether any of these worlds has an atmosphere, and what we can do to make a definitive call. www.centauri-dreams.org/2025/12/09/c...

centauri-dreams.org

Catching Up with TRAPPIST-1 | Centauri Dreams

Paul Gilster @gilster.bsky.social · 20/11/2025

Interesting paper on non-human species communication. Can we learn from signaling patterns in fireflies how to distinguish optical SETI signals in astronomical data? What about dolphin 'language' or bird-song? More on today's Centauri Dreams. www.centauri-dreams.org/2025/11/20/t...

centauri-dreams.org

The Firefly and the Pulsar | Centauri Dreams

Paul Gilster @gilster.bsky.social · 12/11/2025

Possible evidence that the accelerated expansion of the universe is being mis-read, based on new analysis of supernovae data. Is the cosmos in fact decelerating? Is the universe, after all, cyclical? www.centauri-dreams.org/2025/11/12/a...

centauri-dreams.org

A Reversal of Cosmic Expansion? | Centauri Dreams

Paul Gilster @gilster.bsky.social · 05/11/2025

Machine intelligence will guide our first interstellar missions. Putting non-biological 'crews' on journeys of this magnitude is inevitable, but it challenges us to revise our values and adjust our moral philosophy. Thoughts on why this is necessary. www.centauri-dreams.org/2025/11/05/b...

centauri-dreams.org

Building an Interstellar Philosophy | Centauri Dreams

Paul Gilster @gilster.bsky.social · 23/10/2025

Will we ever study a black hole up close with a spacecraft? Some musings on how it might be done as we learn to locate solar-mass BHs within tens of light years. Interesting paper points out science opportunities. www.centauri-dreams.org/2025/10/23/i...

centauri-dreams.org

Interstellar Mission to a Black Hole | Centauri Dreams

Paul Gilster @gilster.bsky.social · 19/10/2025

At Voyager speeds, well over 200,000 years.

100

Paul Gilster @gilster.bsky.social · 18/10/2025

Teegarden's Star has a planet that might be habitable, but only if we make key assumptions. I look at recent work on what those assumptions are, and how much we still don't know about the 'habitability' question. www.centauri-dreams.org/2025/10/18/t...

centauri-dreams.org

Teegarden’s Star b: A Habitable Red Dwarf Planet? | Centauri Dreams

Paul Gilster @gilster.bsky.social · 14/10/2025

On that dark 'object' that may help refine dark matter models in the early universe. If indeed it is dark matter and not an ancient inactive dwarf galaxy. Striking detection via gravitational lensing pushed to its limits. www.centauri-dreams.org/2025/10/14/a...

centauri-dreams.org

A Dark Object or ‘Dark Matter’? | Centauri Dreams

Paul Gilster @gilster.bsky.social · 09/10/2025

Something no other propulsion system can do: Non-Keplerian orbits, essentially hovering over a target. Space weather mission concept illustrates the possibilities. Will we be smart enough to fund it? www.centauri-dreams.org/2025/10/09/s...

centauri-dreams.org

Solar Sails for Space Weather | Centauri Dreams

Paul Gilster @gilster.bsky.social · 02/10/2025

Rogue planets move through interstellar space with no star to warm them. We've assumed they've been ejected from a parent star system, but now it appears some form in same way stars do. A fascinating example discussed in new paper. www.centauri-dreams.org/2025/10/02/r...

centauri-dreams.org

Rogue Planets: A Stellar Infancy? | Centauri Dreams

Paul Gilster @gilster.bsky.social · 22/09/2025

If the Wow! Signal was result of power beaming accidentally sweeping across our sky from another star system, why would it be so narrow in bandwidth? James Benford offers an explanation that shows how physics forces the issue. www.centauri-dreams.org/2025/09/22/b...

centauri-dreams.org

Beaming and Bandwidth: A New Note on the Wow! Signal | Centauri Dreams

Paul Gilster @gilster.bsky.social · 15/09/2025

A new look at old data from Ohio's Big Ear, where the famous Wow! signal was recorded. Plus thoughts on a recent work that analyses the factors that make a technological civilization possible. How likely is it that we are alone? www.centauri-dreams.org/2025/09/15/s...

centauri-dreams.org

SETI Odds and Ends | Centauri Dreams

Paul Gilster @gilster.bsky.social · 05/09/2025

Life on Ceres? Almost certainly not now, but go back a few billion years ago and conditions in the asteroid's sub-surface ocean could have supported micro-organisms. New study makes us wonder about other outer system objects. www.centauri-dreams.org/2025/09/03/a...

centauri-dreams.org

Ancient Life on Ceres? | Centauri Dreams

Paul Gilster @gilster.bsky.social · 01/09/2025

Keith Cooper's new book Amazing Worlds looks at the interplay of science fiction and exoplanet research. It's a crisp, well-informed survey rich in SF both classic and new, mingling with latest exoplanet data. My review is available here. www.centauri-dreams.org/2025/08/29/a...

centauri-dreams.org

Amazing Worlds: A Review | Centauri Dreams

Paul Gilster @gilster.bsky.social · 22/08/2025

Deeply saddened to learn of the death of Italian physicist Claudio Maccone, a good friend and a leading figure in interstellar studies. I post some recollections about this fine man today on Centauri Dreams. www.centauri-dreams.org/2025/08/22/c...

centauri-dreams.org

Claudio Maccone (1948-2025) | Centauri Dreams

Paul Gilster @gilster.bsky.social · 15/08/2025

Further thoughts on generation ships, including an obvious one. Will we insist on carrying humans to other stars, or are we more likely to send intelligent machines? www.centauri-dreams.org/2016/03/25/t...

centauri-dreams.org

Thirteen to Centaurus | Centauri Dreams

Paul Gilster @gilster.bsky.social · 12/08/2025

Project Hyperion generation ship design contest produced a solid result in 'Chrysalis,' a richly detailed study of how a ship like this could be constructed. Key problems: As always, propulsion, & especially closed loop life support. That last one is huge. www.centauri-dreams.org/2025/08/12/c...

centauri-dreams.org

Chrysalis: Designing a Generation Ship | Centauri Dreams