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The Most Precise Measurement of an Alien World’s Size

By Guest PostAugust 5, 2014Scienceaccelerator program, alien world, exoplanets, Galaxy, infrared light, kenya lab, kepler, NASA, size, solar system, spitzer space telescope, super earth, ted fellow

Thanks to NASA’s Kepler and Spitzer Space Telescopes, scientists have made the most precise measurement ever of the radius of a planet outside our solar system. The size of the exoplanet, dubbed Kepler-93b, is now known to an uncertainty of just 74 miles (119 kilometers) on either side of the planetary body.

The findings confirm Kepler-93b as a “super-Earth” that is about one-and-a-half times the size of our planet. Although super-Earths are common in the galaxy, none exist in our solar system. Exoplanets like Kepler-93b are therefore our only laboratories to study this major class of planet. (more…)

UChicago researchers use Hubble Telescope to reveal cloudy weather on alien world

By Guest PostJanuary 2, 2014Sciencealien world, astronomers, atmosphere, bjorn benneke, clouds, constellation ophiuchus, drake deming, earth, exoplanets, gj 1214b, heavy molecule, high altitude clouds, hubble telescope, jacob bean, jacob l bean, jean michel desert, laura kreidberg, milky way galaxy, NASA, neptune, university of chicago, water vapor

Weather forecasters on exoplanet GJ 1214b would have an easy job. Today’s forecast: cloudy. Tomorrow: overcast. Extended outlook: more clouds.

That’s the implication of a study led by researchers in the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the University of Chicago who have definitively characterized the atmosphere of a super-Earth class planet orbiting another star for the first time. (more…)

Hubble spots azure blue planet

By Guest PostJuly 30, 2013Sciencealien world, colour of planet, exoplanets to earth, exotic planet, hot jupiters, planet is blue

Astronomers from the University of Exeter using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope along with an international team of researchers have, for the first time, determined the true colour of a planet orbiting another star. (more…)

Tag Archives: alien world

The Most Precise Measurement of an Alien World’s Size

UChicago researchers use Hubble Telescope to reveal cloudy weather on alien world

Hubble spots azure blue planet