Giant exoplanet with glowing water atmosphere discovered
7 years, 7 months ago

Giant exoplanet with glowing water atmosphere discovered

Live Mint  

Washington: Scientists have discovered glowing water molecules in the atmosphere of a giant Jupiter-like planet located 900 light years from Earth that is hot enough to boil iron. The atmosphere of WASP-121b—a gas giant exoplanet commonly referred to as a “hot Jupiter”—was observed using National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Hubble Space Telescope. Water vapour in the planet’s atmosphere, for example, behaves in predictable ways in response to certain wavelengths of light, depending on the temperature of the water. “When we pointed Hubble at WASP-121b, we saw glowing water molecules, implying that the planet has a strong stratosphere,” Evans said, lead author of the study published in the journal Nature.

Atmosphere Water Vapour Stratosphere Exoplanet  wasp121b  water  vapour  stratosphere  glowing  exoplanet  giant  atmosphere  temperature  discovered  hot  molecules  light  planets

History of this topic

Astronomers find water molecules, carbon monoxide on hot Jupiters
3 years, 5 months ago

Astronomers find water molecules, carbon monoxide on hot Jupiters

India Today  

In the search for life beyond Earth, science has taken astronomers to mysterious giant gas planets that race around their host stars in extremely tight orbits. A new study is now shedding more light on the formation of these objects, known as hot Jupiters, as astronomers combine observations from the Hubble space telescope with theoretical modelling. Published in the journal …

Nasa says newly-discovered exoplanet could have water clouds and a ‘tail’
3 years, 9 months ago

Nasa says newly-discovered exoplanet could have water clouds and a ‘tail’

Hindustan Times  

Astronomers have discovered an exoplanet located 90 light-years away from Earth with a potentially rich atmosphere that may contain water clouds. Nasa said that the newly discovered exoplanet is more than three-and-a half times as big as Earth, calling it “oddly reminiscent” of Neptune. Nasa said that the exoplanet could offer scientists the chance to capture a “bar-code” type reading …

Astronomers Discover Extremely Rare, Jupiter-like Cloudless Exoplanet 575 Light Years Away from Earth
4 years, 2 months ago

Astronomers Discover Extremely Rare, Jupiter-like Cloudless Exoplanet 575 Light Years Away from Earth

News 18  

It seems Jupiter has got competition as scientists discover an exoplanet 575 light years away from earth. A team of fifteen scientists led by Munazza Alam, an NSF Graduate Research Fellow, a National Geographic Young Explorer, and a third-year graduate student in the Department of Astronomy at Harvard University, used the Hubble Space Telescope to record data and observe the …

Iron rain could be falling on this hot exoplanet
5 years ago

Iron rain could be falling on this hot exoplanet

CNN  

CNN — The discovery of planets outside of our solar system, called exoplanets, has revealed strange worlds never imagined in our corner of the universe. “One could say that this planet gets rainy in the evening, except it rains iron,” said David Ehrenreich, study author and professor at the University of Geneva in Switzerland. “It is raining iron on the …

Water discovered for the first time on super-Earth exoplanet
5 years, 6 months ago

Water discovered for the first time on super-Earth exoplanet

India TV News  

In an "incredibly exciting" finding, astronomers have for the first time discovered water in the atmosphere of a planet orbiting a distant star outside our solar system with Earth-like temperatures that could support life. "Finding water in a potentially habitable world other than Earth is incredibly exciting," said first author Angelos Tsiaras from the University College London in the UK. …

Water detected in atmosphere of potentially habitable super-Earth
5 years, 6 months ago

Water detected in atmosphere of potentially habitable super-Earth

CNN  

CNN — For the first time, astronomers have peered into the atmosphere of an exoplanet – a planet outside our solar system – and discovered both water vapor and temperatures that could potentially support life, according to a new study. Chris Smith /NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center This artist's illustration depicts the rocky exoplanet GJ 486 b, which orbits a …

Astronomers find an exoplanet with a cloud-free atmosphere that's larger than Jupiter and has Saturn's mass
6 years, 10 months ago

Astronomers find an exoplanet with a cloud-free atmosphere that's larger than Jupiter and has Saturn's mass

Firstpost  

The spectrum of WASP-96b shows the complete fingerprint of sodium, which can only be observed for an atmosphere free of clouds, Astronomers have found that a planet outside our solar system, which is similar to Saturn in mass and exceeds the size of Jupiter by 20 percent, has an atmosphere free of clouds. The spectrum of WASP-96b shows the complete …

Astronomers detect water in Saturn-sized exoplanet's atmosphere
7 years ago

Astronomers detect water in Saturn-sized exoplanet's atmosphere

New Indian Express  

WASHINGTON: Astronomers have detected a large amount of water in the atmosphere of a hot, Saturn-mass exoplanet some 700 light-years away. Though no planet like this resides in our solar system, WASP-39b can provide new insights into how and where planets form around a star, the researchers said. Using NASA's Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes, the astronomers analysed the atmosphere …

Scientists discover ‘Hot Jupiter’ with deadly stratosphere located 325 light-years from Earth
7 years, 3 months ago

Scientists discover ‘Hot Jupiter’ with deadly stratosphere located 325 light-years from Earth

India TV News  

A NASA-led team of scientists have come across WASP-18b -- a 'hot Jupiter' located 325 light-years from Earth that has a smothering stratosphere and is loaded with carbon monoxide with no signs of water. “The composition of WASP-18b defies all expectations,” Kyle Sheppard of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, said. The formation of a stratosphere layer in …

Hot Jupiter has smothering stratosphere sans water
7 years, 3 months ago

Hot Jupiter has smothering stratosphere sans water

India Today  

Washington, Nov 30 The oversized planet WASP-18b, located 325 light-years from Earth, is wrapped in a smothering stratosphere loaded with carbon monoxide and devoid of water, a NASA-led team has found. "We dont know of any other extrasolar planet where carbon monoxide so completely dominates the upper atmosphere," said Sheppard, lead author of the research published in the Astrophysical Journal …

Hubble observes exoplanet so dark that it absorbs 94 percent of the visible starlight that falls on it
7 years, 6 months ago

Hubble observes exoplanet so dark that it absorbs 94 percent of the visible starlight that falls on it

Firstpost  

The Hubble Space Telescope has observed an exoplanet that is incredibly dark and difficult to see. The exoplanet is known as WASP-12b, and belongs to a class of planets known as “hot Jupiters.” The planet is about 1,400 light years away in the constellation of Auriga. Taylor Bell, lead researcher of the study says, “This new Hubble research further demonstrates …

Astronomers discover "hottest gas giant" planet with more than 4,300 degrees of temperature
7 years, 9 months ago

Astronomers discover "hottest gas giant" planet with more than 4,300 degrees of temperature

Firstpost  

Because the planet is tidally locked to its star, one side of the planet is always facing toward the star, and one side is in perpetual darkness. “This is the hottest gas giant planet that has ever been discovered,” said Scott Gaudi, Professor at the Ohio State University in Columbus who led a study. “As has been highlighted by the …

'Sunscreen' layer on distant exoplanet discovered by Indian-origin researcher - IndiaTV news
9 years, 9 months ago

'Sunscreen' layer on distant exoplanet discovered by Indian-origin researcher - IndiaTV news

India TV News  

Washington: In what could reveal the composition of a planet and how it formed, a team including an Indian-origin researcher has detected a stratosphere, one of the primary layers of Earth's atmosphere, on a massive and blazing-hot exoplanet. This atmospheric layer includes molecules that absorb ultraviolet and visible light, acting as a kind of "sunscreen" for the planet it surrounds.Until …

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