The Mass of Proxima Centauri b and Stellar Masses

We use the data from the Pale Red Dot's discovery of a planet around another star to show exactly how we link together the observational data of radial velocity observations to give us the mass and radius of a planet orbiting a distant star. We can't see the planet, but we see its effects. Therefore, we can deduce its properties. We use this to emphasize the importance of learning the masses of the stars. This is part of my complete intro Astronomy class that I taught at Willam Paterson University and CUNY Hunter.
Binary Stars in General: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binary_...
Stellar Masses: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stellar...
The sky around Alpha Centauri and Proxima Centauri (annotated): www.eso.org/public/usa/images/...
The motion of Proxima Centauri in 2016, revealing the fingerprints of a planet: www.eso.org/public/usa/images/...
SuperWASP Observations of Variable Stars: www.astro.keele.ac.uk/workx/su...
Main-Sequence Effective Temperatures from a Revised Mass-Luminosity Relation Based on Accurate Properties: arxiv.org/pdf/1501.06585.pdf
The location of Proxima Centauri in the southern skies: www.eso.org/public/usa/images/...
Proxima Centauri and its planet compared to the Solar System: www.eso.org/public/images/eso1...
Artist's impression of the planet orbiting Proxima Centauri: www.eso.org/public/images/eso1...
Pale Red Dot: A search for Earth-like planets around Proxima Centauri: palereddot.org
Powerful Flare from Star Proxima Centauri Detected with ALMA; puts habitability of nearby system into question: public.nrao.edu/news/2018-alm...

[@douglaswilkinson5700]

Excellent! Thank you!

[@jamesgornall5731]

Oohhhh Jason, you good lad, you! Been looking forward to a new video

[@JasonKendallAstronomer]

Thanks!

[@daemeonation3018]

One of my best students(or hardest studying? Here in Shanghai) asked to review the astronomy today. I guess I have to put the lesson together again in another way.

[@gunnaralv]

The Best

[@MrMollytov]

Love your videos! But you need to invest in a proper mic.

[@JasonKendallAstronomer]

Thanks, these are remasters of older videos. I'm in the process of setting up a new studio for recording now. I'll eventually get back to these older videos for complete re-recordings..... However, I may just push forward into my upcoming Cosmology course