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Extreme Exoplanet Volcanism Possibly Detected On 55 Cancri E

Posted by Soulskill on from the fun-place-to-visit-but-i-wouldn't-want-to-live-there dept.

astroengine writes with this excerpt from Discovery.com: Using data from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, astronomers have revealed wild atmospheric changes on a well studied exoplanet — changes that they suspect are driven by extreme volcanic activity. Over a period of two years, the team, led by University of Cambridge researchers, noted a three-fold change in temperature on the surface of 55 Cancri e. The super-Earth planet orbits a sun-like star 40 light-years away in the constellation of Cancer. It is twice the size of Earth and 8-times our planet's mass. 55 Cancri e is well-known to exoplanet hunters as the "diamond planet" — a world thought to be carbon-rich, possibly covered in hydrocarbons. But this new finding, published in the arXiv pre-print service, has added a new dimension to the planet's weird nature. "This is the first time we've seen such drastic changes in light emitted from an exoplanet, which is particularly remarkable for a super-Earth," said co-author Nikku Madhusudhan, of Cambridge's Institute of Astronomy, in a press release. "No signature of thermal emissions or surface activity has ever been detected for any other super-Earth to date."

40 comments

  1. Fascinating by SpaceCommander · · Score: 2

    -Spock But seriously, this stuff is just amazing.

    1. Re:Fascinating by gstoddart · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Yeah, it's literally stuff which was theoretical science (if not science fiction) 25 years ago.

      Some days I look back at Pong and think "holy shit we've come a long way".

      Detecting possible volcanoes on a planet 40 light years away? That boggles my mind.

      Yay science!!

      --
      Lost at C:>. Found at C.
    2. Re:Fascinating by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Maybe. Maybe not. I'll be a wet blanket here and say that until we have the opportunity to test some of the conclusions that are coming out of the theories and scant data behind these announcements, we won't really know if we are getting it right. I think its cool that we are generating testable hypotheses, but we don't yet have a way to test them, do we?

    3. Re:Fascinating by jellomizer · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I am going to nitpick... Because Science coverage has been abused by the word Theory.

      These are not Theories, but Hypothesis, once you are able to test these idea, then you get the Theory out of it.

      Global Warming is a Theory. There have been mountains of test to show its validity.
      Health Problems with GMO is a Hypothesis, it is a guess that needs further investigation.

      --
      If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
    4. Re:Fascinating by gstoddart · · Score: 2

      Maybe. Maybe not. I'll be a wet blanket here and say that until we have the opportunity to test some of the conclusions that are coming out of the theories and scant data behind these announcements, we won't really know if we are getting it right. I think its cool that we are generating testable hypotheses, but we don't yet have a way to test them, do we?

      Honestly, I'll take that you could have an actual question if we're interpreting the imaging of the exoplanet correctly as proof of my point.

      At this point, I don't care if it's volcanoes, or if the planet is hatching to become a space alligator.

      We're comparing data from observations spanning several years of an exoplanet which is 40 light years away ... you can wet blanket all you like, it's still freakin' cool.

      I'm not qualified to defend the science. I'm here to defend the awesome. :-P

      --
      Lost at C:>. Found at C.
    5. Re:Fascinating by Applehu+Akbar · · Score: 0

      Wanna hijack this thread for politics? Okay, I'll bite. Verifying phenomena like volcanism on an exoplanet is the kind of thing we would be able to do if astronomers only had larger telescopes. Which now we will never have unless China (which doesn't have any really good terrestrial sites of its own) puts one into space for us.

    6. Re:Fascinating by bhcompy · · Score: 1

      Speaking of Spock, it sounds like this planet is the Genesis device

    7. Re:Fascinating by rubycodez · · Score: 1

      what are you talking about, soon to be launched nasa telescopes will do just that http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J...

    8. Re:Fascinating by jellomizer · · Score: 1

      No, I wasn't. I am more concerned about the quality of Science Reporting.

      --
      If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
  2. Damn Global Warming is EVERYWHERE! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Even in other solar systems...

  3. Told you geoforming would have side effects by WillAffleckUW · · Score: 1, Flamebait

    But no, you insisted we could address the root causes of global warming by "altering the atmosphere".

    Chalk up another dead world of climate change deniers.

    --
    -- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
    1. Re:Told you geoforming would have side effects by bobbied · · Score: 1

      Perhaps, but in this case it is clear that it's not manmade...

      --
      "File to fit, pound to insert, paint to match" - Aircraft Maintenance 101
  4. I'm not saying it was aliens, but... by GameboyRMH · · Score: 4, Funny

    It was aliens having a global thermonuclear war.

    --
    "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
    1. Re:I'm not saying it was aliens, but... by magarity · · Score: 1

      They'd have to be hellatough to have a nuclear war lasting two years.

    2. Re:I'm not saying it was aliens, but... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It was aliens having a global thermonuclear war.

      You would need an individual travel machine with proper polycarbonate armour.
      Have a viewing tube so you could see what is around you.
      Better have a blaster and a manipulating arm too.

      No problem...

    3. Re:I'm not saying it was aliens, but... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They'd have to be hellatough to have a nuclear war lasting two years.

      You would need some sort of individual travel mahine with proper polycarbonate armour.
      A viewing tube so you could see around you would be useful.
      Better have a blaster and a manipulating arm too.

      No problem....

    4. Re:I'm not saying it was aliens, but... by rubycodez · · Score: 1

      actually, that could well be the type we have on Earth, if command and control of any major nuclear power taken down missiles could be launched sporadically over indefinite time period

  5. Cancri by jfdavis668 · · Score: 1

    I love that word. Cancri.

    1. Re:Cancri by gstoddart · · Score: 1

      You should totally go and watch some exotic dancri to celebrate.

      --
      Lost at C:>. Found at C.
    2. Re:Cancri by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

      Oh stop it, you silly wankri.

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
  6. If I owned this place and hell by Intrepid+imaginaut · · Score: 1

    I'd rent this place out and live in hell.

    1. Re:If I owned this place and hell by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Because you'd get more money out of it?

  7. three-fold change? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    2973 K / 1273 K = 2.335
    You need creative rounding to get a factor of 3.

    1. Re:three-fold change? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How many furlongs is a Kelvin?

    2. Re:three-fold change? by Gr8Apes · · Score: 1
      2973 = 3000
      1273 = 1000

      3000/1000....

      --
      The cesspool just got a check and balance.
    3. Re:three-fold change? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's the creative rounding he was talking about. But shouldn't "N-fold change" mean a change of N times, as in multiplying the original by N+1 ?
      So a one-fold change would be a doubling, amirite?

    4. Re:three-fold change? by Gr8Apes · · Score: 1

      My point was it wasn't that creative, but I do agree that it's more like a 200% increase. The wording is about as precise as their rounding.

      --
      The cesspool just got a check and balance.
    5. Re:three-fold change? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Your method also gives 1501/1499 = 2. It is definitely creative.

  8. What a great time to be alive by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    I'm very happy that I'm alive at the same time as humanity's discovery of extra-solar worlds. In 500 years discoveries like those in TFA will still be remembered. It seems plausible that we will be seen as living through a golden age of astronomy.

    It's also just plain exciting. I imagine 'excited' is how people felt when they first saw Galileo's sketches of lunar craters & Jupiter's moons.

    1. Re:What a great time to be alive by rubycodez · · Score: 1

      depends if we get sent back to the dark ages, either by ourselves or by hostile extraterrestrial life

    2. Re:What a great time to be alive by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's going to take a hostile extraterrestrial foe to bring the human race together. It's ironic that hostile aliens landing on the planet would probably result in us using as many nuclear weapons as necessary to either kill the invaders or if the battle looks lost nuke as much of the planet as we can on purpose to make sure if we can't have it no one can. And if hostile aliens fail to show up we will most likely destroy the world with nukes fighting one another. So were pretty much screwed no matter what happens and the only question remaining is when will this happen. If hostile aliens show up it would be pretty damn cool to die fighting them. Just ask yourself how you want to die. Cancer, disease, old age, car accident, murdered, or fighting aliens?

    3. Re:What a great time to be alive by rubycodez · · Score: 1

      I'll take old age, thanks

      I really don't think nuclear weapons would be useful against any race that has mastered interstellar travel, it'd be like the few amazon aboriginal tribes with arrows and poison darts vs. the U.S. Army using Apache copters loaded with Hellfire, Hydra and chain guns. A five minute action movie.

  9. Is that anywhere close to the...degava.....system? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Then I could get my barerings.

  10. big scope on the big island by rossdee · · Score: 1

    "Verifying phenomena like volcanism on an exoplanet is the kind of thing we would be able to do if astronomers only had larger telescopes. "

    Speaking of large volcanoes, that would be a good place to put a large telescope, but I guess the people that live there don't want us looking for other volcanoes and stuff

  11. Oh my goodness by paiute · · Score: 1

    Can't we warn those poor people?

    --
    If Slashdot were chemistry it would look like this:Cadaverine
  12. Duck, it's an Omega beam by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The Apokolips has finally been found.

    1. Re:Duck, it's an Omega beam by jfdavis668 · · Score: 1

      I thought you were talking about Omega http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O...

  13. Planet still in Alpha by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "Sorry humans, I'm still working on this section of the galaxy, I just pushed some new updates through which... oh dear, let me just roll back those changes... Oh great, now it's stuck in some sort of halfway state.

    Er, check back in a couple of hundred years"

    - God