[Playful music throughout]
[Many stars, including our own Sun, are polka dotted.]
[Now scientists have a new tool that can help map a star’s spots using orbiting planets.]
[When a planet passes in front of its star, the star’s light dims.]
[Missions like NASA’s TESS can track the star’s brightness as it changes.]
[If a planet doesn’t cross over a spot, the star’s brightness follows a smooth curve.]
[If the planet does cross a spot, there’s an extra dip within the curve.]
[The more spots a planet crosses, the more jagged the curve becomes.]
[The new tool, StarryStarryProcess, uses these curves to determine how many spots the star might have, where they are, and other factors.]
[Stellar activity like star spots can both change a planet’s atmosphere and make it difficult to measure.]
[Missions like NASA’s upcoming Pandora can use tools like this one to study stars and their planets]
[as we continue to explore our universe.]
[NASA]