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Jeff Spry, screenwriter and freelance journalist inform, Like Obi-Wan's famous characterization of The Force as an elemental entity that surrounds us and penetrates us, the mysterious number of pi is a permanence whose presence is everywhere — even apparently in heavenly bodies orbiting ultracool stars.
Pi is represented by π, the 16th letter of the Greek alphabet, and is
a universal mathematical constant as regular as the rising sun,
calculated out as the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter.
Equal to its approximation of 3.14159, it exists in all arenas of
mathematics, physics, and nature.
Photo: NASA Ames/JPL-Caltech/T. Pyle, Christine Daniloff, MIT
No matter how big or how small a circle is, pi will always figure out to be the exact same number. Pi is also an irrational number which cannot be expressed by just a simple fraction because it's what mathematicians define as an "infinite decimal," meaning that after the decimal point, the digits go on forever. Pi was first discovered by ancient Babylonians nearly 4,000 years ago and acquired its first calculation by the mathematician Archimedes of Syracuse (287-212 B.C.)...
Kepler faded out of operation two years ago, but not until it left behind data on 530,506 observed stars and 4,284 exoplanet discoveries outside our solar system, some of which could be potential destinations for future human colonization.
Source: SYFY WIRE
