How to Weigh a Star Using a Moon

Cambridge, MA - How do astronomers weigh a star that's trillions of miles away and way too big to fit on a bathroom scale? In most cases they can't, although they can get a best estimate using computer models of stellar structure.

New work by astrophysicist David Kipping says that in special cases, we can weigh a star directly. If the star has a planet, and that planet has a moon, and both of them cross in front of their star, then we can measure their sizes and orbits to learn about the sta [...]

Full story at http://spacefellowship.com/news/art23190/how-to-weigh-a-star-using-a-moon.html