Direct Imaging of Exoplanets - Bruce Macintosh (SETI Talks)
Δημοσιεύτηκε στις 11 Σεπ 2015
Learn
about an exciting new exoplanet discovery—a Jupiter-like planet called
“51 Eri b” that orbits a star a 100 light years away in the
constellation of Eridanus.
Using a powerful new imaging device,
astronomers have spied a Jupiter-like exoplanet 100 light-years distant
in the constellation of Eridanus. Unlike most planets found around
other stars, 51 Eri b has been seen directly. The instrument employed
to make the discovery has also made a spectroscopic analysis of the
light reflected from the planet, and has detected gases similar to those
in Jupiter’s atmosphere.
Because GPI not only images exoplanets
but also spreads their light for chemical analysis, astronomers can
search for such common gases as water and methane in their atmospheres.
Researchers had expected to see methane in directly-imaged exoplanets
based on the temperature and chemistry of these worlds, but had failed
to detect these molecules in large quantities using earlier instruments.
However, the observations of 51 Eri b made with GPI have clearly
revealed a methane-dominated atmosphere similar to that of Jupiter.
An
extraordinarily complex instrument the size of a small car, GPI is
attached to one of the world’s biggest telescopes – the 8-meter Gemini
South instrument in Chile. It began its survey of stars last year.
The
host star, 51 Eri, is very young, a mere 20 million years old, and is
slightly hotter than the Sun. The exoplanet 51 Eri b, whose mass is
estimated to be roughly twice that of Jupiter, appears to orbit its host
star at a distance 13 times greater than the Earth-Sun distance. If
placed in our own solar system, 51 Eri b’s orbit would lie between those
of Saturn and Neptune.
about an exciting new exoplanet discovery—a Jupiter-like planet called
“51 Eri b” that orbits a star a 100 light years away in the
constellation of Eridanus.
Using a powerful new imaging device,
astronomers have spied a Jupiter-like exoplanet 100 light-years distant
in the constellation of Eridanus. Unlike most planets found around
other stars, 51 Eri b has been seen directly. The instrument employed
to make the discovery has also made a spectroscopic analysis of the
light reflected from the planet, and has detected gases similar to those
in Jupiter’s atmosphere.
Because GPI not only images exoplanets
but also spreads their light for chemical analysis, astronomers can
search for such common gases as water and methane in their atmospheres.
Researchers had expected to see methane in directly-imaged exoplanets
based on the temperature and chemistry of these worlds, but had failed
to detect these molecules in large quantities using earlier instruments.
However, the observations of 51 Eri b made with GPI have clearly
revealed a methane-dominated atmosphere similar to that of Jupiter.
An
extraordinarily complex instrument the size of a small car, GPI is
attached to one of the world’s biggest telescopes – the 8-meter Gemini
South instrument in Chile. It began its survey of stars last year.
The
host star, 51 Eri, is very young, a mere 20 million years old, and is
slightly hotter than the Sun. The exoplanet 51 Eri b, whose mass is
estimated to be roughly twice that of Jupiter, appears to orbit its host
star at a distance 13 times greater than the Earth-Sun distance. If
placed in our own solar system, 51 Eri b’s orbit would lie between those
of Saturn and Neptune.
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