Mythopoeika
I am a meat popsicle
- Joined
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- Inside a starship, watching puny humans from afar
Perhaps a large moon in orbit would stop it ever becoming tidally-locked?
Exoplanets (Extra-Solar Planets)
- Thread starter punychicken
- Start date
Mythopoeika
I am a meat popsicle
- Joined
- Sep 18, 2001
- Messages
- 51,656
- Location
- Inside a starship, watching puny humans from afar
Like our Moon is doing, slowly and inexorably.
Comfortably Numb
Antediluvian
- Joined
- Aug 7, 2018
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- 9,008
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If Aliens Existed Elsewhere in the Universe, How Would They Behave?
In a new offering from Smithsonian Books, James Trefil and Michael Summers explore the life forms that might exist on a dizzying array of exoplanets
Source: smithsonianmag.com
Date: 30 December, 2019
We all remember the nursery story “Goldilocks and the Three Bears.” We delight in telling our children and grandchildren about how Papa Bear’s porridge was too hot, Mama Bear’s porridge was too cold, but Baby Bear’s porridge was juust right. It’s not surprising, then, that when scientists began thinking about the fact that Earth’s oceans had to stay liquid for billions of years in order for life to survive—the planet’s temperature had to be not too hot and not too cold but just right—they christened it the first “Goldilocks planet.”
Look at it this way: Like all stars of its type, our Sun has grown gradually brighter over the 4.5 billion years since it formed. When the oceans first formed on Earth, about 4 billion years ago, the Sun was about 30 percent dimmer than it is now, so the planet had to retain a lot more of the incoming solar energy to keep its oceans from freezing. As time went on and the Sun poured more energy onto Earth, the makeup of the planet’s atmosphere changed as well, influencing the temperature through the greenhouse effect. Yet in spite of all of this, it appears that the oceans stayed just a few degrees above freezing throughout Earth’s history. Not too cold, and not too hot.
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smit...ere-universe-how-would-they-behave-180973843/
In a new offering from Smithsonian Books, James Trefil and Michael Summers explore the life forms that might exist on a dizzying array of exoplanets
Source: smithsonianmag.com
Date: 30 December, 2019
We all remember the nursery story “Goldilocks and the Three Bears.” We delight in telling our children and grandchildren about how Papa Bear’s porridge was too hot, Mama Bear’s porridge was too cold, but Baby Bear’s porridge was juust right. It’s not surprising, then, that when scientists began thinking about the fact that Earth’s oceans had to stay liquid for billions of years in order for life to survive—the planet’s temperature had to be not too hot and not too cold but just right—they christened it the first “Goldilocks planet.”
Look at it this way: Like all stars of its type, our Sun has grown gradually brighter over the 4.5 billion years since it formed. When the oceans first formed on Earth, about 4 billion years ago, the Sun was about 30 percent dimmer than it is now, so the planet had to retain a lot more of the incoming solar energy to keep its oceans from freezing. As time went on and the Sun poured more energy onto Earth, the makeup of the planet’s atmosphere changed as well, influencing the temperature through the greenhouse effect. Yet in spite of all of this, it appears that the oceans stayed just a few degrees above freezing throughout Earth’s history. Not too cold, and not too hot.
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smit...ere-universe-how-would-they-behave-180973843/
Comfortably Numb
Antediluvian
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Alien life is out there, but our theories are probably steering us away from it
Source: Peter Vickers, Durham University/theconversation.com
Date: 2 January, 2020
If we discovered evidence of alien life, would we even realise it? Life on other planets could be so different from what we’re used to that we might not recognise any biological signatures that it produces.
Recent years have seen changes to our theories about what counts as a biosignature and which planets might be habitable, and further turnarounds are inevitable. But the best we can really do is interpret the data we have with our current best theory, not with some future idea we haven’t had yet.
This is a big issue for those involved in the search for extraterrestrial life. As Scott Gaudi of Nasa’s Advisory Council has said: “One thing I am quite sure of, now having spent more than 20 years in this field of exoplanets … expect the unexpected.”
But is it really possible to “expect the unexpected”? Plenty of breakthroughs happen by accident, from the discovery of penicillin to the discovery of the cosmic microwave background radiation left over from the Big Bang. These often reflect a degree of luck on behalf of the researchers involved. When it comes to alien life, is it enough for scientists to assume “we’ll know it when we see it”?
https://theconversation-com.cdn.amp...-are-probably-steering-us-away-from-it-124042
Source: Peter Vickers, Durham University/theconversation.com
Date: 2 January, 2020
If we discovered evidence of alien life, would we even realise it? Life on other planets could be so different from what we’re used to that we might not recognise any biological signatures that it produces.
Recent years have seen changes to our theories about what counts as a biosignature and which planets might be habitable, and further turnarounds are inevitable. But the best we can really do is interpret the data we have with our current best theory, not with some future idea we haven’t had yet.
This is a big issue for those involved in the search for extraterrestrial life. As Scott Gaudi of Nasa’s Advisory Council has said: “One thing I am quite sure of, now having spent more than 20 years in this field of exoplanets … expect the unexpected.”
But is it really possible to “expect the unexpected”? Plenty of breakthroughs happen by accident, from the discovery of penicillin to the discovery of the cosmic microwave background radiation left over from the Big Bang. These often reflect a degree of luck on behalf of the researchers involved. When it comes to alien life, is it enough for scientists to assume “we’ll know it when we see it”?
https://theconversation-com.cdn.amp...-are-probably-steering-us-away-from-it-124042
ramonmercado
CyberPunk
- Joined
- Aug 19, 2003
- Messages
- 58,218
- Location
- Eblana
So close yet so far.
The planet orbiting the star closest to the sun may have a neighbor.
Proxima Centauri, a dim red star just 4.2 light-years away, is already known to host one potentially habitable planet, Proxima b, that’s a bit more massive than Earth (SN: 8/24/16). Now, astronomers see hints of a second planet, this one much larger and farther from the star.
If it exists, Proxima c appears to be at least 5.8 times as massive as Earth and orbits its star about once every five Earth years, researchers report January 15 in Science Advances. Given its distance from Proxima Centauri, the planet is also much too cold to have liquid water, a key test for habitability.
Clues to the planet’s existence showed up in spectroscopic data of Proxima Centauri from two telescopes in Chile, Mario Damasso, an astrophysicist at the Astrophysical Observatory of Turin in Italy, and colleagues report. The data, which span 17 years, record the star’s back-and-forth motion relative to Earth. After accounting for the known planet, the researchers found hints of an additional unexplained wobble, likely caused by a second planet gravitationally tugging on the star.
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/second-planet-may-orbit-proxima-centauri-star
The planet orbiting the star closest to the sun may have a neighbor.
Proxima Centauri, a dim red star just 4.2 light-years away, is already known to host one potentially habitable planet, Proxima b, that’s a bit more massive than Earth (SN: 8/24/16). Now, astronomers see hints of a second planet, this one much larger and farther from the star.
If it exists, Proxima c appears to be at least 5.8 times as massive as Earth and orbits its star about once every five Earth years, researchers report January 15 in Science Advances. Given its distance from Proxima Centauri, the planet is also much too cold to have liquid water, a key test for habitability.
Clues to the planet’s existence showed up in spectroscopic data of Proxima Centauri from two telescopes in Chile, Mario Damasso, an astrophysicist at the Astrophysical Observatory of Turin in Italy, and colleagues report. The data, which span 17 years, record the star’s back-and-forth motion relative to Earth. After accounting for the known planet, the researchers found hints of an additional unexplained wobble, likely caused by a second planet gravitationally tugging on the star.
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/second-planet-may-orbit-proxima-centauri-star
blessmycottonsocks
Antediluvian
- Joined
- Dec 22, 2014
- Messages
- 9,405
- Location
- Wessex and Mercia
"We all remember the nursery story “Goldilocks and the Three Bears.” We delight in telling our children and grandchildren about how Papa Bear’s porridge was too hot, Mama Bear’s porridge was too cold, but Baby Bear’s porridge was juust right. It’s not surprising, then, that when scientists began thinking about the fact that Earth’s oceans had to stay liquid for billions of years in order for life to survive—the planet’s temperature had to be not too hot and not too cold but just right—they christened it the first “Goldilocks planet.” "
This is the version I like:
This is the version I like:
ramonmercado
CyberPunk
- Joined
- Aug 19, 2003
- Messages
- 58,218
- Location
- Eblana
Looks promising but ...
A team of transatlantic scientists, using reanalyzed data from NASA's Kepler space telescope, has discovered an Earth-size exoplanet orbiting in its star's habitable zone, the area around a star where a rocky planet could support liquid water.
Scientists discovered this planet, called Kepler-1649c, when looking through old observations from Kepler, which the agency retired in 2018. While previous searches with a computer algorithm misidentified it, researchers reviewing Kepler data took a second look at the signature and recognized it as a planet. Out of all the exoplanets found by Kepler, this distant world -- located 300 light-years from Earth -- is most similar to Earth in size and estimated temperature.
This newly revealed world is only 1.06 times larger than our own planet. Also, the amount of starlight it receives from its host star is 75% of the amount of light Earth receives from our Sun -- meaning the exoplanet's temperature may be similar to our planet's as well. But unlike Earth, it orbits a red dwarf. Though none have been observed in this system, this type of star is known for stellar flare-ups that may make a planet's environment challenging for any potential life.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/04/200416105650.htm
A team of transatlantic scientists, using reanalyzed data from NASA's Kepler space telescope, has discovered an Earth-size exoplanet orbiting in its star's habitable zone, the area around a star where a rocky planet could support liquid water.
Scientists discovered this planet, called Kepler-1649c, when looking through old observations from Kepler, which the agency retired in 2018. While previous searches with a computer algorithm misidentified it, researchers reviewing Kepler data took a second look at the signature and recognized it as a planet. Out of all the exoplanets found by Kepler, this distant world -- located 300 light-years from Earth -- is most similar to Earth in size and estimated temperature.
This newly revealed world is only 1.06 times larger than our own planet. Also, the amount of starlight it receives from its host star is 75% of the amount of light Earth receives from our Sun -- meaning the exoplanet's temperature may be similar to our planet's as well. But unlike Earth, it orbits a red dwarf. Though none have been observed in this system, this type of star is known for stellar flare-ups that may make a planet's environment challenging for any potential life.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/04/200416105650.htm
ramonmercado
CyberPunk
- Joined
- Aug 19, 2003
- Messages
- 58,218
- Location
- Eblana
Planets covered with exotic liquids.
Small worlds around other stars may come in more than two varieties.
Using exoplanet densities, astronomers have largely sorted planets that are bigger than Earth but smaller than Neptune into two categories: denser, rocky super-Earths and larger, puffy mini-Neptunes (SN: 6/19/17). Mini-Neptunes are generally thought to be padded in thick layers of hydrogen and helium gas, like the giant planets in our own solar system. But astronomers have detected clear evidence of hydrogen on only some mini-Neptunes — and, curiously, seen traces of water on others (SN: 5/11/17).
Now, new simulations indicate that some planets that look like gaseous mini-Neptunes could actually be rocky planets covered in superheated oceans, where the water is in an exotic state between liquid and gas. Such extreme saunalike worlds could bridge the divide between rocky and gaseous planet types, researchers report in the June 15 Astrophysical Journal Letters.
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/exoplanets-supercritical-water-liquid-gas
Small worlds around other stars may come in more than two varieties.
Using exoplanet densities, astronomers have largely sorted planets that are bigger than Earth but smaller than Neptune into two categories: denser, rocky super-Earths and larger, puffy mini-Neptunes (SN: 6/19/17). Mini-Neptunes are generally thought to be padded in thick layers of hydrogen and helium gas, like the giant planets in our own solar system. But astronomers have detected clear evidence of hydrogen on only some mini-Neptunes — and, curiously, seen traces of water on others (SN: 5/11/17).
Now, new simulations indicate that some planets that look like gaseous mini-Neptunes could actually be rocky planets covered in superheated oceans, where the water is in an exotic state between liquid and gas. Such extreme saunalike worlds could bridge the divide between rocky and gaseous planet types, researchers report in the June 15 Astrophysical Journal Letters.
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/exoplanets-supercritical-water-liquid-gas
ramonmercado
CyberPunk
- Joined
- Aug 19, 2003
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- 58,218
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- Eblana
Our new home?!
For the first time, an exoplanet family around a sunlike star has had its portrait taken. Astronomers used the Very Large Telescope in Chile to snap a photo of two giant planets orbiting a young star with about the same mass as the sun, researchers report July 22 in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.
The star, called TYC 8998-760-1, is about 300 light-years away in the constellation Musca. At just 17 million years old, the planetary family is a youngster compared with the 4-billion-year-old solar system.
Although astronomers have found thousands of exoplanets, most aren’t observed directly. Instead they are spotted as shadows crossing in front of their stars, or inferred as unseen forces tugging at their stars.
Only a few tens of planets have been photographed around other stars, and just two of those stars have more than one planet. Neither is sunlike, says astronomer Alexander Bohn of Leiden University in the Netherlands — one is more massive than the sun, the other less massive.
https://www.sciencenews.org/article...ke-star-multiple-exoplanets-astronomy-planets
For the first time, an exoplanet family around a sunlike star has had its portrait taken. Astronomers used the Very Large Telescope in Chile to snap a photo of two giant planets orbiting a young star with about the same mass as the sun, researchers report July 22 in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.
The star, called TYC 8998-760-1, is about 300 light-years away in the constellation Musca. At just 17 million years old, the planetary family is a youngster compared with the 4-billion-year-old solar system.
Although astronomers have found thousands of exoplanets, most aren’t observed directly. Instead they are spotted as shadows crossing in front of their stars, or inferred as unseen forces tugging at their stars.
Only a few tens of planets have been photographed around other stars, and just two of those stars have more than one planet. Neither is sunlike, says astronomer Alexander Bohn of Leiden University in the Netherlands — one is more massive than the sun, the other less massive.
https://www.sciencenews.org/article...ke-star-multiple-exoplanets-astronomy-planets
ramonmercado
CyberPunk
- Joined
- Aug 19, 2003
- Messages
- 58,218
- Location
- Eblana
Some light entertainment.
About a decade ago, I attended a conference inaugurating the campus of New York University in Abu Dhabi along with a colleague from Princeton University, Ed Turner. The conference included a tour through the neighborhood, during which the local guide bragged that their city lights can be seen all the way from the moon. Ed and I looked at each other and wondered: from how far away could the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) detect city lights?
During the following day, we calculated that the Hubble Deep Field could notice a city like Tokyo on objects in the Kuiper belt at 30–50 times the Earth-sun separation. But can we distinguish artificial lights from natural reflection of sunlight if they have a similar color?
In answering this question, Ed and I stumbled across a key insight concerning the dependence of the observed flux on the distance of the light source. The flux of reflected sunlight declines inversely with the square of the reflector’s distance from the sun (regarding the sunlight intercepted by it) times the square of its distance from us (for the light we receive). For sources very far away, the product of these factors implies dimming inversely with distance to the fourth power. On the other hand, an artificial source that produces its own light acts like a light bulb and dims only inversely with the square of its distance from us. By checking whether a Kuiper belt object dims inversely with distance to the second or fourth power as it recedes away along its orbit, one can infer whether it emits its own light. ...
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/searching-for-city-lights-on-other-planets/
Searching for City Lights on Other Planets
There’s a detectable difference between a planet shining with reflected light and a planet glowing with its own artificial illumination.About a decade ago, I attended a conference inaugurating the campus of New York University in Abu Dhabi along with a colleague from Princeton University, Ed Turner. The conference included a tour through the neighborhood, during which the local guide bragged that their city lights can be seen all the way from the moon. Ed and I looked at each other and wondered: from how far away could the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) detect city lights?
During the following day, we calculated that the Hubble Deep Field could notice a city like Tokyo on objects in the Kuiper belt at 30–50 times the Earth-sun separation. But can we distinguish artificial lights from natural reflection of sunlight if they have a similar color?
In answering this question, Ed and I stumbled across a key insight concerning the dependence of the observed flux on the distance of the light source. The flux of reflected sunlight declines inversely with the square of the reflector’s distance from the sun (regarding the sunlight intercepted by it) times the square of its distance from us (for the light we receive). For sources very far away, the product of these factors implies dimming inversely with distance to the fourth power. On the other hand, an artificial source that produces its own light acts like a light bulb and dims only inversely with the square of its distance from us. By checking whether a Kuiper belt object dims inversely with distance to the second or fourth power as it recedes away along its orbit, one can infer whether it emits its own light. ...
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/searching-for-city-lights-on-other-planets/
kamalktk
Antediluvian
- Joined
- Feb 5, 2011
- Messages
- 7,218
Every astronomer that read that cried out in pain at the though of that much light pollution.
- Joined
- Jul 19, 2004
- Messages
- 29,622
- Location
- Out of Bounds
Exoplanets are not just distant versions of the planets of our own solar system. New research indicates other star systems have spawned planets considerably different from our neighbors.
PUBLISHED RESEARCH ARTICLE: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-26403-8
FULL STORY: https://www.livescience.com/new-rock-types-surrounding-white-dwarfs
PUBLISHED RESEARCH ARTICLE: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-26403-8
ramonmercado
CyberPunk
- Joined
- Aug 19, 2003
- Messages
- 58,218
- Location
- Eblana
Outside the Goldilocks Zone.
Astronomers have detected a new planet around the star closest to the Sun.
Using the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (ESO’s VLT) in Chile, they found evidence of the body orbiting Proxima Centauri.
The candidate planet is the third detected in the system and is just a quarter of Earth’s mass, making it the lightest yet discovered orbiting this star – which is just over four light-years away from the Sun. It is also one of the lightest exoplanets – a planet outside the Solar System – ever found, the researchers said.
Lead author Joao Faria, a researcher at the Institute of Astrophysics and Space Sciences in Portugal, said: “The discovery shows that our closest stellar neighbour seems to be packed with interesting new worlds, within reach of further study and future exploration.”
Named Proxima d, the newly discovered planet orbits Proxima Centauri at a distance of about four million kilometres – less than a 10th of Mercury’s distance from the Sun.
Astronomers found it orbits between the star and the habitable zone – the area around a star where liquid water can exist at the surface of a planet – and takes just five days to complete one orbit of Proxima Centauri.
https://www.irishexaminer.com/world/arid-40805058.html
Astronomers have detected a new planet around the star closest to the Sun.
Using the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (ESO’s VLT) in Chile, they found evidence of the body orbiting Proxima Centauri.
The candidate planet is the third detected in the system and is just a quarter of Earth’s mass, making it the lightest yet discovered orbiting this star – which is just over four light-years away from the Sun. It is also one of the lightest exoplanets – a planet outside the Solar System – ever found, the researchers said.
Lead author Joao Faria, a researcher at the Institute of Astrophysics and Space Sciences in Portugal, said: “The discovery shows that our closest stellar neighbour seems to be packed with interesting new worlds, within reach of further study and future exploration.”
Named Proxima d, the newly discovered planet orbits Proxima Centauri at a distance of about four million kilometres – less than a 10th of Mercury’s distance from the Sun.
Astronomers found it orbits between the star and the habitable zone – the area around a star where liquid water can exist at the surface of a planet – and takes just five days to complete one orbit of Proxima Centauri.
https://www.irishexaminer.com/world/arid-40805058.html
ramonmercado
CyberPunk
- Joined
- Aug 19, 2003
- Messages
- 58,218
- Location
- Eblana
In the Goldilocks Zone.
Planetary bodies have been seen for the first time in the zone of a dead star where water and life could exist, researchers have said.
A ring of debris studded with moon-sized structures has been observed orbiting close to a white dwarf star, hinting at a nearby planet in the area known as the habitable zone, and sometimes called the Goldilocks zone.
White dwarfs are dead stars that have burned through all hydrogen fuel, and nearly all stars, including the Sun, will eventually become one.
The scientists suggest their findings might provide a glimpse of what will become of our solar system when the Sun becomes a white dwarf in billions of years.
In the new study, UCL researchers measured light from a white dwarf in the Milky Way known as WD1054–226, using data from ground and space-based telescopes. They were surprised to find marked dips in light corresponding to 65 evenly spaced clouds of planetary debris orbiting the star every 25 hours.
The researchers concluded the dimming of the star’s light every 23 minutes suggested the structures were kept in such a precise arrangement by a nearby planet.
https://www.irishexaminer.com/world/arid-40805652.html
Planetary bodies have been seen for the first time in the zone of a dead star where water and life could exist, researchers have said.
A ring of debris studded with moon-sized structures has been observed orbiting close to a white dwarf star, hinting at a nearby planet in the area known as the habitable zone, and sometimes called the Goldilocks zone.
White dwarfs are dead stars that have burned through all hydrogen fuel, and nearly all stars, including the Sun, will eventually become one.
The scientists suggest their findings might provide a glimpse of what will become of our solar system when the Sun becomes a white dwarf in billions of years.
In the new study, UCL researchers measured light from a white dwarf in the Milky Way known as WD1054–226, using data from ground and space-based telescopes. They were surprised to find marked dips in light corresponding to 65 evenly spaced clouds of planetary debris orbiting the star every 25 hours.
The researchers concluded the dimming of the star’s light every 23 minutes suggested the structures were kept in such a precise arrangement by a nearby planet.
https://www.irishexaminer.com/world/arid-40805652.html
maximus otter
Recovering policeman
- Joined
- Aug 9, 2001
- Messages
- 13,948
The Mysterious Case of the Evaporating Sub-Neptune World
Astronomers sifting through data from a NASA planet-hunting satellite have hit the jackpot: a common type of planet 131 light-years away called TOI-1759b, with an extremely uncommon story to tell. Thanks to its close proximity to its host star, the planet's atmosphere appears to be evaporating into dead expanse of space—extremely fast, by astronomical standards.
Watching this radiation-induced “photoevaporation,” reported on in a new study led by Eder Martioli at the Laboratório Nacional de Astrofísica in Brazil, could help us understand one of the weirdest mysteries in modern astronomy. As we continue to discover more planets out there beyond our solar system—what we call exoplanets—there’s an inexplicable absence of planets the size of Neptune or slightly smaller (“sub-Neptunes”) in orbits close to their host stars.
Just by sheer probability, we ought to be discovering more of these mid-sized planets that manage to complete entire orbits around their host stars in just a few days. Instead, we’re left with a planetary dead zone for medium planets that astronomers call the “sub-Neptune desert.” All of this begs the question: How can there be so many medium-sized planets out there, but so few medium-sized planets in orbits close to their stars?
One theory is that sub-Neptunes are just the right size, density and composition that when they are exposed to the hot light of a really close star, they simply can’t hold onto their atmospheres. All that energized hydrogen wafts up and out.
On gassier and less dense planets with weaker gravities, stellar radiation can kick off a process astronomers call “hydrogen escape” that eventually strips away all the gas that makes up most of the atmosphere, leaving behind inert rocky nubs that are just a fraction of the planet’s original size.
Bigger planets, by contrast, tend to cling more tightly to their atmospheres, preventing runaway hydrogen escape. Smaller planets with higher gravity, Earth among them, also enjoy this protection.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/tech...-the-evaporating-sub-neptune-world/ar-AATMzfR
maximus otter
Ascalon
Justified & Ancient
- Joined
- Jul 3, 2009
- Messages
- 1,339
Another planet confirmed in Proxima Centauri system, our nearest neighbouring star.
- Joined
- Jul 19, 2004
- Messages
- 29,622
- Location
- Out of Bounds
Newly published research on exoplanet WASP-121b indicates it has clouds of metal vapor and rains liquid versions of gemstones.
PUBLISHED RESEARCH REPORT: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-021-01592-w
FULL STORY: https://www.sciencealert.com/this-wild-planet-has-metal-clouds-and-rains-liquid-jewels
PUBLISHED RESEARCH REPORT: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-021-01592-w
ramonmercado
CyberPunk
- Joined
- Aug 19, 2003
- Messages
- 58,218
- Location
- Eblana
Now one with CO2
Astronomers have found carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere of a Saturn-size planet 700 light-years away—the first unambiguous detection of the gas in a planet beyond the Solar System.
The discovery, made by the James Webb Space Telescope, provides clues to how the planet formed. The result also shows just how quickly Webb may identify a spate of other gases, such as methane and ammonia, which could hint at a planet’s potential habitability for life.
Webb is “ushering in this new era of the atmospheric science of exoplanets,” says Nikku Madhusudhan of the University of Cambridge, who was not involved in the study.
The Webb telescope is sensitive to infrared wavelengths of light that are mostly blocked by Earth’s atmosphere. It has already dazzled astronomers with its ability to bring the universe’s most distant stars and galaxies into view.
But the infrared sensitivity is also critical for researchers studying worlds much closer to home, in the Milky Way. When an exoplanet’s orbit takes it in front of its star, some of the starlight passes through the planet’s atmosphere and carries fingerprints of its composition. The atmospheric gases absorb specific wavelengths of light, which show up as dips in brightness when the starlight is spread out into a spectrum.
https://www.science.org/content/article/carbon-dioxide-detected-around-alien-world-first-time
Astronomers have found carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere of a Saturn-size planet 700 light-years away—the first unambiguous detection of the gas in a planet beyond the Solar System.
The discovery, made by the James Webb Space Telescope, provides clues to how the planet formed. The result also shows just how quickly Webb may identify a spate of other gases, such as methane and ammonia, which could hint at a planet’s potential habitability for life.
Webb is “ushering in this new era of the atmospheric science of exoplanets,” says Nikku Madhusudhan of the University of Cambridge, who was not involved in the study.
The Webb telescope is sensitive to infrared wavelengths of light that are mostly blocked by Earth’s atmosphere. It has already dazzled astronomers with its ability to bring the universe’s most distant stars and galaxies into view.
But the infrared sensitivity is also critical for researchers studying worlds much closer to home, in the Milky Way. When an exoplanet’s orbit takes it in front of its star, some of the starlight passes through the planet’s atmosphere and carries fingerprints of its composition. The atmospheric gases absorb specific wavelengths of light, which show up as dips in brightness when the starlight is spread out into a spectrum.
https://www.science.org/content/article/carbon-dioxide-detected-around-alien-world-first-time
Mythopoeika
I am a meat popsicle
- Joined
- Sep 18, 2001
- Messages
- 51,656
- Location
- Inside a starship, watching puny humans from afar
I don't see that this is particularly significant and don't see what the fuss is about.
Mars and Venus both have CO2. It's reasonable to expect exoplanets to have some too.
ramonmercado
CyberPunk
- Joined
- Aug 19, 2003
- Messages
- 58,218
- Location
- Eblana
It's the first exo-planet to have traces of CO2 though.
- Joined
- Jul 19, 2004
- Messages
- 29,622
- Location
- Out of Bounds
An exoplanet orbiting a red dwarf star "only" 100 light years from earth seems to be a good candidate for the first water-covered planet ever confirmed (if confirmation is forthcoming).
FULL STORY: https://www.sciencealert.com/we-just-found-a-super-earth-that-could-be-an-ocean-covered-water-world
Vardoger
Make mine a 99
- Joined
- Jun 3, 2004
- Messages
- 6,649
- Location
- Valaskjalf (Ex. pat.)
First image of an exoplanet by James Webb Space Telescope.
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Samuel Osborne
News reporter @samuelosborne93
Thursday 1 September 2022 19:59, UK
NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has taken its first image of a planet outside of our solar system.
The telescope recorded four different views of the planet HIP 65426 b, a gas giant about six to 12 times the mass of Jupiter.
"This is a transformative moment, not only for Webb but also for astronomy generally," said Sasha Hinkley, associate professor of physics and astronomy at the University of Exeter.
Astronomers discovered HIP 65426 b in 2017 using the Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope in Chile.
But Webb's images reveal new details that ground-based telescopes would not be able to detect due to the intrinsic infrared glow of Earth's atmosphere.
https://news.sky.com/story/nasas-james-webb-space-telescope-takes-its-first-image-of-planet-outside-solar-system-12687129#:~:text=Astronomers%20discovered%20HIP%2065426%20b,infrared%20glow%20of%20Earth's%20atmosphere.
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NASA's James Webb Space Telescope takes its first image of planet outside solar system
Taking direct images of exoplanets presents a challenge because stars are much brighter than their surrounding planets - but the telescope has special filters that block out starlight.Samuel Osborne
News reporter @samuelosborne93
Thursday 1 September 2022 19:59, UK
NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has taken its first image of a planet outside of our solar system.
The telescope recorded four different views of the planet HIP 65426 b, a gas giant about six to 12 times the mass of Jupiter.
"This is a transformative moment, not only for Webb but also for astronomy generally," said Sasha Hinkley, associate professor of physics and astronomy at the University of Exeter.
Astronomers discovered HIP 65426 b in 2017 using the Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope in Chile.
But Webb's images reveal new details that ground-based telescopes would not be able to detect due to the intrinsic infrared glow of Earth's atmosphere.
https://news.sky.com/story/nasas-james-webb-space-telescope-takes-its-first-image-of-planet-outside-solar-system-12687129#:~:text=Astronomers%20discovered%20HIP%2065426%20b,infrared%20glow%20of%20Earth's%20atmosphere.
Tunn11
Justified & Ancient
- Joined
- Nov 23, 2005
- Messages
- 2,236
- Location
- Under the highest tree top in Kent
Found this listed on the Daily Grail site a "trip" to some exoplanets.
https://aeon.co/videos/burning-ice-metal-clouds-gemstone-rain-tour-the-strangest-known-exoplanets
Interesting but a couple of gripes:
Edgeworth/Kuiper belt is shown as a typical Hollywood/computer game construct with thousands of objects much too close to each other, which makes me doubt their other graphics.
Explosions and spacecraft making a noise in a vacuum.
I was a little alarmed that the flag being flown on some planets indicated that they had first been reached by Saruman. But I didn't know that Haumea has a ring! Off to look that up elsewhere. (Edited - since 2017, I missed that)
Anyway the film is pretty.
https://aeon.co/videos/burning-ice-metal-clouds-gemstone-rain-tour-the-strangest-known-exoplanets
Interesting but a couple of gripes:
Edgeworth/Kuiper belt is shown as a typical Hollywood/computer game construct with thousands of objects much too close to each other, which makes me doubt their other graphics.
Explosions and spacecraft making a noise in a vacuum.
I was a little alarmed that the flag being flown on some planets indicated that they had first been reached by Saruman. But I didn't know that Haumea has a ring! Off to look that up elsewhere. (Edited - since 2017, I missed that)
Anyway the film is pretty.
Sounds lovely.
I'm still waiting for an announcement that an Earth 2.0 has been found, but all we ever seem to get is totally inhospitable places, but which are (purportedly) within the 'goldilocks zone'.
Webb Space Telescope Detects Exoplanet With Clouds of Super-Hot Gravel
(...) Webb has gathered atmospheric data on an exoplanet called VHS 1256 b, finding clouds unlike anything on Earth. Instead of wispy clouds of water vapor, VHS 1256 b has "gritty" clouds heavy with silicate.
https://www.extremetech.com/aerospa...cts-exoplanet-with-clouds-of-super-hot-gravel
I'm still waiting for an announcement that an Earth 2.0 has been found, but all we ever seem to get is totally inhospitable places, but which are (purportedly) within the 'goldilocks zone'.
Webb Space Telescope Detects Exoplanet With Clouds of Super-Hot Gravel
(...) Webb has gathered atmospheric data on an exoplanet called VHS 1256 b, finding clouds unlike anything on Earth. Instead of wispy clouds of water vapor, VHS 1256 b has "gritty" clouds heavy with silicate.
https://www.extremetech.com/aerospa...cts-exoplanet-with-clouds-of-super-hot-gravel
eburacum
Papo-furado
- Joined
- Aug 26, 2005
- Messages
- 5,804
I'm working on an artist's impression of this planet. The gritty silicon clouds would look yellowish in the bright sunlight near the star, but the bulk of the atmosphere would look bluish due to Rayleigh scattering.
This world would look quite bright if seen with the naked eye, so one would need a strong optical filter to see any colours at all.
This world would look quite bright if seen with the naked eye, so one would need a strong optical filter to see any colours at all.
'Gabby' (an AI art assistant) gives us these two renderings of "this planet. The gritty silicon clouds would look yellowish in the bright sunlight near the star, but the bulk of the atmosphere would look bluish due to Rayleigh scattering. This world would look quite bright if seen with the naked eye,"
eburacum
Papo-furado
- Joined
- Aug 26, 2005
- Messages
- 5,804
The top half of the top picture is pretty realistic, especially if we assume that the planet is in a cloudy phase; VHS 1256b seems to have a very variable cloud layer. Unfortunately the rest of the image seems to come from somewhere else.
That seems to be a feature of Art AI programs; they are mostly mash-ups.
That seems to be a feature of Art AI programs; they are mostly mash-ups.