First Reflected Light From an Exoplanet Seen 72
Roland Piquepaille writes "European astronomers have for the first time ever been able to detect and monitor the visible light that is scattered in the atmosphere of an exoplanet. Designated HD 189733b, also known as a 'hot Jupiter,' orbits a star slightly cooler and less massive than the Sun about 60 light-years from Earth. According to a Zurich news release, 'Polarization technique focuses limelight,' the researchers used 'techniques similar to how Polaroid sunglasses filter away reflected sunlight to reduce glare. They also directly traced the orbit of the planet, a feat of visualization not possible using indirect methods.' The team thinks that their findings are opening new opportunities for exploring physical conditions on exoplanets."
So... (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:If only... (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Where is the picture? (Score:4, Interesting)
The picture would show nothing more than a blurry spot, with one pixel slightly different from the others.
Yeah, but now, that pixel's spectrum would be quite interesting.
more info (Score:4, Interesting)
"Hot Jupiters [wikipedia.org] (also called roasters, epistellar jovians, pegasids or pegasean planets) are a class of extrasolar planets whose mass is close to or exceeds that of Jupiter"
I figured Hot Jubiter implied "hotter than" but I guess that's not the case.
Future possibilities (Score:4, Interesting)
If an exoplanet can be directly imaged in this manner, does that mean some of the techniques used on stars for inferring the existence of exoplanets (wobbling, dimming etc) can be used to detect exomoons?
This would be a great breakthrough if it were possible, seeing as most of the exoplanets we know about are gas giants and if they host life it is likely to be on their moons.