Slashdot Mirror
Spectrum of Light Captured From Distant World
An anonymous reader writes with this excerpt from Cosmos:
"Astronomers have made the first direct capture of a spectrum of light from a planet outside the Solar System and are deciphering its composition. The light was snared from a giant planet that orbits a bright young star called HR 8799 about 130 light-years from Earth, said the European Southern Observatory (ESO). ... The find is important, because hidden within a light spectrum are clues about the relative amounts of different elements in the planet's atmosphere. 'The features observed in the spectrum are not compatible with current theoretical models,' said co-author Wolfgang Brandner. 'We need to take into account a more detailed description of the atmospheric dust clouds, or accept that the atmosphere has a different chemical composition from that previously assumed.' The result represents a milestone in the search for life elsewhere in the universe, said the ESO. Until now, astronomers have been able to get only an indirect light sample from an exoplanet, as worlds beyond our Solar System are called. They do this by measuring the spectrum of a star twice — while an orbiting exoplanet passes near to the front of it, and again while the planet is directly behind it. The planet's spectrum is thus calculated by subtracting one light sample from another."
To Whom it May Concern:
Pursuant to Title II of the Digital Galactic Copyright Act ("DGCA"), namely, the Interstellar Copyright Infringement Liability Act, you are hereby notified that certain potential copyright infringing materials are currently hosted by you. This letter serves as written notification of claimed infringement. ...
I'd go on a Vegan diet but the delivery time from Vega is too long. --brownkitty
That's not a spectrum. That's a hyperintelligent shade of blue! Quickly, grab a prism!
From these readings with an accuracy of 1.23241e^-34 percent we can conclude we need to rethink the current standard model.
The recap says that astronomers have until now only been able to get indirect light samples. Isn't all of the light from a planet indirect?
Astronomers have measured transmission spectra of a planet circling the star HD 209458 and a planet circling the star HD 189733 (and probably others). The first successful measurements, which found sodium in the spectrum of HD 209458b, were published by Charbonneau et al. in 2002. See ApJ 568, 377 (2002).
Michael Richmond "This is the heart that broke my finger."
mwrsps@rit.edu http://stupendous.rit.edu
I always have to think, that it’s practically a sure thing, that we will see alien life forms doing their thing on their planet, in our lifetime.
With the current (as always exponential) rate of telescope development, we will get to a Google-maps-like resolution or even better. And meanwhile search as many of the previously in other ways detected planets an new planets for signs of life (e.g. non-natural structures and fast changes.)
Now if we narrow down to the right planets and spaces in the right solar systems, we will find life. Or what was once life. Maybe even life that is more advanced than ours.
Then it’s just a matter of setting up a video feed. Because I doubt that once life is found, anyone will dare to turn its eyes off of it for even a second, until we know very well what’s going on there.
I just wish that day would be today...
Any sufficiently advanced intelligence is indistinguishable from stupidity.
It's a definite milestone to be able to peer into the composition of an exoplanet. Huge congratulations to the guys and girls that pulled this off.
Developing the ability to do the same with stars was probably one of the most important steps in the history of astronomy. This may not seem to have the broad reaching implications and novelty of that discovery, but if it provides us with evidence for alien life then it will clearly be right up there.
...but I recall the excited, breathless publicity that occurred after a science team announced that they had captured spectroscopic details of a planet's atmosphere and announced that it contained sufficient sodium to give it a yellowish tinge...then a second team, trying to verify the findings of the first, found nothing! We should wait and see....
My web domain.
Am I the only person who read that as a giant plane that orbits a bright young star called HR 8799?
Comment removed based on user account deletion
I can't find information about the spectra in the links. How was it different? Were percentages different? Was something unexpected found? Is it composed of green dragons, fairies and teddybears? How about some substance to the news?
These posts express my own personal views, not those of my employer