First Organic Molecules Found on Alien World 146
Galactic_grub writes "The detection of planet HD 189733b is in some ways just another small victory for extra-solar planetary science. It is too hot for there to be anything 'alive'. Just the same, somewhere on the planet are trace amounts of the gas methane. The fact that the element was detected at all offers hope for understanding future discoveries of Earth-like worlds, says NewScientistSpace. Researchers from Caltech and University College London used the Hubble Space Telescope to peer at the planet and examined spectral signature of starlight filtered by the planet's atmosphere, to identify different chemicals. 'The authors suggest that some ill-understood chemical process might be responsible, either concentrating the methane in cooler parts of the atmosphere, or generating extra methane directly. Alternatively, the methane might simply mean that the planet happens to be very rich in carbon.'"
Yet another step closer to my goal (Score:5, Funny)
sooo... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Yet another step closer to my goal (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Yet another step closer to my goal (Score:5, Funny)
Test of Faith (Score:5, Funny)
Please... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Test of Faith (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Methane is an element? (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Unfortunately, not a smoking gun... (Score:4, Funny)
Actually, who knows what our planet may look like from a few lightyears afar in, say, a couple of hundred years?
Re:sooo... (Score:4, Funny)
Worse. We don't detect them unless they do. This explains why the fat guy in the room is the easiest to detect.
Re:Test of Faith (Score:1, Funny)
Re:Please... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Yet another step closer to my goal (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Misleading (Score:4, Funny)
I use tcsh, you insensitive clod!
Re:Methane is an element? (Score:2, Funny)
What we have here is failure to compound.
Carbon? Feh (Score:4, Funny)
Most likely it's because of cows. Space cows.
Re:Yet another step closer to my goal (Score:3, Funny)
If you talked to your mom, you'd find out exactly how wrong you are.
Son.
Re:Please... (Score:1, Funny)
Re:why bother? (Score:3, Funny)