Subscribe free to our newsletters via your
. 24/7 Space News .




EXO WORLDS
First glimpse of exoplanet atmosphere from Earth
by Staff Writers
Paris (AFP) Jan 14, 2009


Two separate teams of scientists reported Wednesday the first-ever detection from Earth of the atmosphere of planets outside our solar system.

Taken together, the studies open a new frontier in the study of exoplanets, hard-to-detect celestial bodies circling stars beyond our own solar system.

Barely 300 exoplanets -- some of which may have conditions similar to those that gave rise to life on Earth -- have been identified so far, though astronomers assume that far more are waiting to be discovered.

Up to now, virtually everything known about the atmosphere of exoplanets has come from data collected by the space-based Spitzer infrared telescope.

But Spitzer will soon run out of the cryogens needed to keep its instruments cool, severely limiting its capabilities.

One team spotted a massive planet many times the size of Earth named OGLE-TR-56b, a so-called "hot Jupiter."

Hot Jupiters are massive planets -- many times the size of Earth -- that orbit very close to their stars. Because they are so near, they are believed to be hot enough to emit radiation in optical and near-infrared wavelengths that would be visible from Earth.

"The successful recipe is a planet that emits a lot of heat and has little-to-no wind in its atmosphere," said co-author Mercedes Lozez-Morales of the Carnegie Institution in Washington D.C.

In addition, it must be a clear and calm night on Earth in order accurately measure the differences in thermal emissions when the exoplanet is eclipsed as it goes behind the star.

"The eclipse allows us to separate the emissions of the planet from those of the star," she said in a statement.

Two observations of OGLE-TR-56b were made last summer, one using the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope, and the other using Carnegie's own Magellan-Baade telescope, both in Chile.

"The planet is glowing red-hot like a kitchen stove burner," said lead author David Sing of the Paris Astrophysics Institute.

"But we had to know precisely when the eclipse was going to happen and measure the stellar flux very accurately so it could be removed to reveal the planet's thermal emission," he said.

In the other study, also to be published in the Paris-based journal Astronomy and Astrophysics, astronomers in the Netherlands detected thermal emissions from another exoplanet names TrES-3b.

.


Related Links
Lands Beyond Beyond - extra solar planets - news and science
Life Beyond Earth






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle








EXO WORLDS
Baby Jupiters Must Gain Weight Fast
Boston MA (SPX) Jan 13, 2009
The planet Jupiter gained weight in a hurry during its infancy. It had to, since the material from which it formed probably disappeared in just a few million years, according to a new study of planet formation around young stars. Smithsonian astronomers examined the 5 million-year-old star cluster NGC 2362 with NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, which can detect ... read more


EXO WORLDS
MIT Scientists To Be Key Lunar Institute Members

SwRI Has A CLOE About Lunar

NASA Selects Research Teams For Lunar Science Institute

Sixteen Tons Of Moondust

EXO WORLDS
Santorini Panorama A Subtle Beauty

Martian Rock Arrangement Not Alien Handiwork

Martian Rock Arrangement Not Alien Handiwork

Human Spaceflight To Mars Proposed Using Combination Of Space Shuttles

EXO WORLDS
Verizon Business Wins Major NASA TeleConferencing Contract

Ex-Air Force general could be new NASA boss

A Testing Future Of Exploration And More For NASA In 2009

A Testing Future Of Exploration And More For NASA In 2009

EXO WORLDS
Fengyun-3A Weather Satellite Begins Weather Monitoring

Shenzhou-7 Monitor Satellite Finishes Mission After 100 Days In Space

China Launches Third Fengyun-2 Series Weather Satellite

China Launches Third Fengyun-2 Series Weather Satellite

EXO WORLDS
Spacehab To Support Pre-Launch Preparations For Russian Module

Kogod Students Pioneer Branding Potential Of International Space Station

Russia Tests Phone Home To Santa Network

Orbital Scoops Up Major Space Station Cargo Delivery Contract

EXO WORLDS
Planetspace Files Protest Against Competition In Space

Hot Bird 10 Delivered For Multi-Payload Ariane 5 February Liftoff

Ariancespace Celebrates Year Of Successes

Ariancespace Celebrates Year Of Successes

EXO WORLDS
First glimpse of exoplanet atmosphere from Earth

Stellar Cannibalism Key To Formation Of Overweight Stars

Baby Jupiters Must Gain Weight Fast

Jupiter-Like Planets Could Form Around Twin Suns

EXO WORLDS
Lockheed Martin Begins Key Test Of First SBIRS Geo Satellite With New Flight Software

Solving The Mysteries Of Metallic Glass

Brazil Begins Mechanical Tests On Satellites

Lockheed Martin SBIRS Team Delivers Major Subsystems For Second GEO Satellite




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2014 - Space Media Network. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement