The 2004 Perseid meteor shower (© Fred Bruenjes) Update (1:30am PST): Spotted three very bright and several dim meteors in a 10 minute observation period (not bad for LA skies!). The bright meteors left strong, and long-lasting ionization trails that were visible for a couple of seconds. It can...

OK, so if you’re an exoplanet hunter, which stars would you focus your attention on? Would you look at bright blue young stars? Or would you look at dim, long-lived red stars? If you think about it, trying to see a small exoplanet eclipse (or transit) a very bright star would be very hard, the...