Here at Future-ish, we love astronomy and we love cocktails. So to prep our fans (and ourselves) for those stellar weekend cocktail conversations, we are pleased to offer our Cocktail Astronomy post each Friday.
It's Superbowl week so we are super exited to share this particular Cocktail Astronomy find...a football shaped planet.
That's right, first observed in 2014 in the constellation Hercules by an international team of scientists, the gas giant WASP-103b is over 1,000 light years away and because of it's proximity to it's sun, the tidal gravitational forces have resulted in a football shaped planet. Researchers used images form ESA's Characterizing Exoplanets Satellite (CHEOPS) telescope along with previous observations of WASP-103b from the Hubble and Spitzer telescopes.
The new evidence of tidal deformations was shared in the January 2022 issue of Astronomy & Astrophysics.
Cocktail Pairing: we have two thoughts for pairings to go with this nod to the Superbowl...beer and bourbon. But we're making the play on a common theme too...go local. What would the Superbowl be without beer? There are lots of big brands out there but opt for a local microbrew if you can. And, it's always good to have a good whiskey or bourbon on hand for great plays and touchdowns. Same call, go local. There are many local distilleries popping up everywhere around the country so take this opportunity to explore your local brands. Cheers!