Astronomers using NASAs Hubble Space Telescope have deduced the - TopicsExpress



          

Astronomers using NASAs Hubble Space Telescope have deduced the actual visible-light color of a planet orbiting another star 63 light-years away. If seen directly it would look like a deep blue dot, reminiscent of Earths color as seen from space. But thats where all comparison ends. The planets daytime atmosphere is nearly 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit, and it possibly rains glass — sideways — in howling 4,500-mile-per-hour winds. The cobalt blue color doesnt come from the reflection of a tropical ocean, but rather from a hazy blow-torched atmosphere and perhaps from high clouds laced with silicate particles. The condensation temperature of silicates could form very small drops of glass that would scatter blue light more than red light. The turbulent alien world, cataloged HD 189733b, is one of the nearest exoplanets to Earth that can be seen crossing the face of its star. It has been intensively studied by Hubble and other observatories, and its atmosphere is dramatically changeable and exotic. The observations yield new insights into the chemical composition and cloud structure of a bizarre hot Jupiter class planet, which orbits precariously close to its parent star. Clouds often play key roles in planetary atmospheres, and detecting the presence and importance of clouds in hot Jupiters is crucial, say researchers. We obviously dont know much on the physics and climatology of silicate clouds, so we are exploring a new domain of atmospheric physics, said team member Frederic Pont of the University of Exeter, South West England, the United Kingdom.
Posted on: Fri, 16 May 2014 17:33:25 +0000

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