| Online: | |
| Visits: | |
| Stories: |
Astronomers discover most hostile exoplanet
Brett Smith for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online
Astronomers from the universities of Geneva (UNIGE) and Bern recently discovered that a distant exoplanet has one of the most hostile atmospheres known to man, with wind speeds of more than 620 miles per hour and temperatures of greater than 5400 degrees F.
As reported in two separate studies published by Astronomy & Astrophysics and Astrophysical Journal Letters, the Swiss scientists were able to learn about the exoplanet, dubbed HD189733b, by using two techniques: the interpretation of ‘sodium lines’ and spectrometry using the European Space Agency’s High Accuracy Radial velocity Planet Searcher (HARPS) instrument.
When an exoplanet has an atmosphere, determining its sodium content is the best way to obtain an obvious recognizable signal. This signal’s strength varies when the exoplanet passes in front of its star, an event known as a transit. This effect had been estimated in 2000, and was outlined two years later through Hubble space telescope observations. However, it had only been able to be detected from giant telescopes on Earth until now.
HARPS providing higher quality images
In the new study, astronomers attentively looked at the information amassed from HARPS over many years. The team was able to recognize distinctions in sodium lines during multiple transits of HD189733b. The team found that the evaluation of HARPS information produces comparable results to those of the Hubble space telescope, but are superior in terms of spectral resolution. It is this factor that has allowed for a detailed evaluation of HD189733b, which is of a lot higher quality than earlier work.
To reach the study’s conclusion, team member Kevin Heng, from Bern University, relied on a simple set of formulas to interpret variations in sodium lines, rather than using sophisticated computer modeling. Heng’s process allowed for the team to detect slight variations in temperature, density, and pressure within an atmosphere.
In November, NASA confirmed that it would be moving ahead with the next phase of a comprehensive exoplanet-finding mission called Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). The TESS project will involve a spacecraft spending two years of three-year mission searching both hemispheres of the sky for nearby exoplanets.
“The most exciting part of the search for planets outside our solar system is the identification of ‘earthlike’ planets with rocky surfaces and liquid water as well as temperatures and atmospheric constituents that appear hospitable to life,” said Jeff Volosin, TESS project manager at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. “Although these planets are small and harder to detect from so far away, this is exactly the type of world that the TESS mission will focus on identifying.”
—–
Follow redOrbit on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Instagram and Pinterest.
redOrbit.com
offers Science, Space, Technology, Health news, videos, images and
reference information. For the latest science news, space news,
technology news, health news visit redOrbit.com frequently. Learn
something new every day.”
Source: http://www.redorbit.com/news/space/1113369952/astronomers-discover-most-hostile-exoplanet-041315/
