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First Reflected Light From an Exoplanet Seen

Posted by Zonk on from the someone-has-a-really-big-mirror dept.

Roland Piquepaille writes "European astronomers have for the first time ever been able to detect and monitor the visible light that is scattered in the atmosphere of an exoplanet. Designated HD 189733b, also known as a 'hot Jupiter,' orbits a star slightly cooler and less massive than the Sun about 60 light-years from Earth. According to a Zurich news release, 'Polarization technique focuses limelight,' the researchers used 'techniques similar to how Polaroid sunglasses filter away reflected sunlight to reduce glare. They also directly traced the orbit of the planet, a feat of visualization not possible using indirect methods.' The team thinks that their findings are opening new opportunities for exploring physical conditions on exoplanets."

4 of 72 comments (clear)

  1. Re:If only... by LiquidCoooled · · Score: 5, Funny

    Mirror of image here: o.

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    liqbase :: faster than paper
  2. Polaroid Sunglasses? by parcanman · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "...the researchers used 'techniques similar to how Polaroid sunglasses filter away reflected sunlight to reduce glare..." Funny, I didn't even know Polaroid made sunglasses, here I thought they only made photography stuff. I assume the writer meant Polarized sunglasses?

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    Why lie when you can just make up stuff and claim it to be true?
    1. Re:Polaroid Sunglasses? by jcaldwel · · Score: 5, Informative

      You are right, Polaroid is a name brand, but they do make sunglasses.

      One definition from Dictionary.com: a brand of material for producing polarized light from unpolarized light by dichroism, consisting typically of a stretched sheet of colorless plastic treated with an iodine solution so as to have long, thin, parallel chains of polymeric molecules containing conductive iodine atoms. It is used widely in optical and lighting devices to reduce glare.

      ... it doesn't just refer to the cameras.

    2. Re:Polaroid Sunglasses? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

      It's no coincidence that polarized sunglasses have a name similar to Polaroid. Edwin Land, the inventor of the Polaroid camera, also invented the polarized film used in sunglasses. And the Polaroid company had the patent for that (then) new kind of polarizing film made by laying crystals down on plastic.