September 1, 2016 Page 9 Fabletics from page 6 production work. Crews have access to two sound studios and three photo studios where they produce television commercials and hundreds of hours of content for social media. Social media isn’t just flash over substance to Fabletics. It’s as much a part of today’s business as the clothing itself. “It’s hard to be a fashion company and not be a content company in the 21st century,” Gold said. The creative process of fashion and media are tightly woven because of the prevalence of social media and web messaging, he said. Other companies are pushing the evolution of e-commerce into America’s malls, too. Canadian athletic apparel company LuluLemon Athletica embraces the online and retail sales mix, and offers membership discounts and special offers. The Vancouver, British Columbia-based manufacturer sells activewear for practitioners of yoga, running, cross-training and watersports. It has a store at the Plaza El Segundo, not far from JustFab and Fabletics headquarters. Gap-owned Athleta is also a player in stylish womens and mens sports apparel, with stores located in El Segundo at The Point, Santa Monica, Woodland Hills, Sherman Oaks and The Grove in Los Angeles. Though opening stores may seem like a step backward, the ecommerce clothing companies say they’re doing it to get physically closer to their customers. Looking Up Planet Found in Habitable Zone around Nearest Star By Bob Eklund Astronomers have found clear evidence of a planet orbiting the closest star to Earth, Proxima Centauri. The long-sought world, designated Proxima b, orbits its cool red parent star every 11 days and has a temperature suitable for liquid water to exist on its surface. This rocky world is a little more massive than the Earth and is the closest exoplanet to us—and it may also be the closest possible abode for life outside the solar system. A paper describing this milestone finding was published in the journal Nature on Aug. 25. Just over four light-years from the solar system lies a red dwarf star that has been named Proxima Centauri, as it is the closest star to Earth apart from the Sun. This cool star in the southern constellation of Centaurus is too faint to be seen with the unaided eye and lies near to the much brighter pair of stars known as Alpha Centauri AB. During the first half of 2016, Proxima Centauri was regularly observed with the HARPS spectrograph on the European Southern Observatory (ESO) 3.6-meter telescope at La Silla in Chile, and simultaneously monitored by other telescopes around the world. This was known as the “Pale Red Dot” campaign, in which a team of astronomers led by Guillem Anglada-Escudé, from Queen Mary University of London, was looking for the tiny backand forth wobble of the star that would be caused by the gravitational pull of a possible orbiting planet. The Pale Red Dot data, when combined with earlier observations made at ESO observatories and elsewhere, revealed the clear signal of a truly exciting result. At times Proxima Centauri is approaching Earth at about 3 miles per hour—normal human walking pace—and at times receding at the same speed. This regular pattern of changing radial velocities repeats with a period of 11.2 days. Careful analysis of the resulting tiny Doppler shifts showed that they indicated the presence of a planet with a mass at least 1.3 times that of the Earth, orbiting some 4.5 million miles from Proxima Centauri—only 5 percent of the Earth-Sun distance. Although Proxima b orbits much closer to its star than Mercury does to the Sun in our solar system, the star itself is far fainter than the Sun. As a result, Proxima b lies well within the habitable zone around the star and has an estimated surface temperature that would allow the presence of liquid water. Despite the temperate orbit of Proxima b, the conditions on the surface may be strongly affected by ultraviolet and X-ray flares from this very active star—far more intense than the Earth experiences from the Sun. This discovery will be the beginning of extensive further observations, both with current instruments and with the next generation of giant telescopes such as the European Extremely Large Telescope. Proxima b will be a prime target for the hunt for evidence of life elsewhere in the universe. Indeed, the Alpha Centauri system is also the target of humankind’s first attempt to travel to another star system, the Starshot (https://breakthroughinitiatives.org/ Initiative/3) project. Guillem Anglada-Escudé concludes: “Many exoplanets have been found and many more will be found, but searching for the closest potential Earth-analogue and succeeding has been the experience of a lifetime for all of us. Many people’s stories and efforts have converged on this discovery. The result is also a tribute to all of them. The search for life on Proxima b comes next.” • Gregg Throgmartin, the president of retail for Fabletics, said in a February interview with California Apparel News, that walking in a store and seeing the merchandise up close is a sensory experience they miss when they buy online. “If you see Fabletics on Facebook and Pinterest, and then you see our TV commercial, your level of confidence in the brand increases,” he said. “Then, if you see it at The Village at Westfield Topanga, the halo adds legitimacy to the brand. Shoppers are excited that they see the shop at the mall.” The walk-in experience is turning mall shoppers into Fabletics members, the company reports. Nearly one in four people who visit its stores register as members before leaving, then they continue to shop and buy online. The terms of the monthly membership has confused some consumers, who said on social media sites like Yelp they were unexpectedly charged a monthly fee. Under the terms of the membership, a Fabletics shopper must visit the web site once before the fifth of each month to avoid being charged the fee. Spokesman Gold said the fee is explained throughout the enrollment process, and members must check that they understand and agree to join the loyalty program. The $49.95 fee stays in a member’s account and can be applied to purchases. Members may opt out any month from making a purchase and can cancel their membership at any time, according to Fabletics web site. • Every Visit our Website www.heraldpublications.com issue always available online! New Issues/Old Issues • Out-of-town? Read the Herald newspapers online • Interested in an article from a prior date? See it online • Excited about an ad, photo, or article? Refer your friends, family and associates to the website, so they can see it too • Want to read the Torrance Tribune or other Herald newspapers not in your area? All available on our website! 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