Really enjoyed giving the Bolton Lecture @physicsleedsuni this year. Here are some of the great questions we got - will answer them over the course of the weekend but feel free to jump in with your own answers! https://twitter.com/physicsleedsuni/status/1332334352336871427

How does the solar cycle influence our climate?

Is there a good summary page for the detection methods denoted on the current plot (astrometry, orbital brightness modulation, ...)? I'm interested in detecting and studying habitable exoplanets for a career, so that would be really helpful.

The first graph shows how groundbreaking the transit method was in discovering new planets, what makes it so much more effective at finding exoplanets compared to other methods?

Is our solar system atypical when compared to other systems? it seems to be far more common to have larger gas giant planets closer to stars than our solar system. Is this because it is easier for us to detect or is it genuinely thought to be more common?

What is the physical process that causes the cycle of the sun to be 11 years?

If you could closely observe any star in the Universe (ie. from an orbiter) which one and why?

How often do these coronal mass ejections happen? Do they coincide with the solar cycle?

If mass is the cause of gravitational force, does our sun revolve around other massive stars outside of the Milky Way galaxy. If yes, what implication will this have for the Earth-Sun relationship.

Would Earth-like planets that are much more massive have stronger magnetic fields that could fight against more massive coronal mass ejections?

Is the 11-year or 22-year cycle on the Sun the Gleissberg Cycle?

Have astronomers figured out why Betelguese has begun changing magnitude and dimming?

Does the distance of a star to a massive object affect the solar activity cycle?

Is there anything in the Earth's geologic record that could trace the periodic history of coronal mass ejections e.g. polar ice cores, e.g. could they have traces of energetic solar particles that passed through the ice or are there other sedimentary bodies that could?

If I am correct I heard about "X-ray images" of the Sun taken by satellites. Does that mean that the X-rays are "sent" from a satellite, pass through the sun and then are recorded by an other satellite at the other end?

Do stars that rotate very quickly have more violent ejections due to the transfer of momentum?

Was the sun as violent when it was younger?

Did Theia collision have a "decisive" influence in the rotation of the Earth, and hence the powering of its magnetic field? And if so, do exoplanets need to have had similar early-formation impacts in order for them to have a strong magnefic field too?

Do you believe that Earth has strong magnetic fields due to centuries ago when it got hit with debris and dust that made Earth create its tilt?

Do you believe there’s a “Planet X” still to be discovered in our solar system?

How quickly does a switch of magnetic poles take place on earth? What effects would we experience (e.g. swallows fly north in winter)?

Are there any positive effects from solar flares?

What role does AI play in the future research of stars and their planets?

What do we believe observations of the Sun’s polar regions will tell us?

Is it correct that the matter that forms a planet originates from the Sun the planet is being formed around?

Was Earth’s atmosphere and water lucky to survive the higher activity levels of our young Sun?

I don't understand the relationship between the discs and the stars and how they are formed

How can you explain planets still having water that is flowing in planets that are so far away from the sun?

Can planets have different types of magnetic fields?

Can binary or triple stellar systems generate much larger collective magnetic field strengths?

What is the furthest planet that astronomers have discovered?

So there's a very recent paper announcing a candidate planet in another *galaxy*. If confirmed, the ~Saturn-sized planet orbits a massive hot star and neutron star (or black hole) - 8.6 megaparsecs (28 million light years!) away.
https://arxiv.org/pdf/2009.08987.pdf
https://www.discovermagazine.com/the-sciences/first-evidence-of-a-planet-in-another-galaxy