Post by Nacky on Dec 2, 2010 14:32:08 GMT -5
Atmosphere of Alien Super-Earth Revealed for First Time
The first-ever analysis of the atmosphere of an alien planet classified as a so-called "super-Earth" has revealed a distant world that is likely covered with either water vapor or a thick haze, scientists announced on December 1st. Just yesterday.
The exoplanet GJ 1214b, orbits a star 40 light-years from Earth, offers astronomers a unique chance to study its atmosphere because it passes directly in front of its parent star from Earth's line of sight. That means that once an orbit, the star's light is filtered as it passes through the planet's atmosphere on its way to Earth, taking with it an imprint from the chemicals there.
"We're trying to get at: What's the main component of this planet's atmosphere?" said lead researcher Jacob Bean, an astronomer at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Mass.
More Here
Artist Impression Photo of planet GJ 1214b
Artist Impression of GJ 1214b passing in front of its host star
The first-ever analysis of the atmosphere of an alien planet classified as a so-called "super-Earth" has revealed a distant world that is likely covered with either water vapor or a thick haze, scientists announced on December 1st. Just yesterday.
The exoplanet GJ 1214b, orbits a star 40 light-years from Earth, offers astronomers a unique chance to study its atmosphere because it passes directly in front of its parent star from Earth's line of sight. That means that once an orbit, the star's light is filtered as it passes through the planet's atmosphere on its way to Earth, taking with it an imprint from the chemicals there.
"We're trying to get at: What's the main component of this planet's atmosphere?" said lead researcher Jacob Bean, an astronomer at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Mass.
More Here
Artist Impression Photo of planet GJ 1214b
Artist Impression of GJ 1214b passing in front of its host star
