Nasa spies light from faraway planets
Jupiter-like planet capture by Spitzer (artist's impression)
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Thursday, 22, Feb 2007 11:18
Light from planets outside our solar system has been captured for the first time.
Scientists have hailed the discovery as a "landmark achievement" and say that it comes years earlier than expected.
Spitzer, a space-based infrared telescope, captured light from the exoplanets HD 189733b, 370 trillion miles away in the constellation Vulpecula, and HD 209458b, 904 trillion miles away in the constellation Pegasus.
Both are known as 'hot planets' as they are gaseous like Jupiter but orbit much closer to their stars.
Michael Werner, Spitzer project scientist, described the find as an "amazing surprise".
"We had no idea when we designed Spitzer that it would make such a dramatic step in characterizing exoplanets," he added.
The light data, known as spectra, was obtained by a piece of equipment known as a spectrograph, which splits light from objects into different wavelengths.
This creates 'fingerprints' of chemicals making up the object.
Outlining the find in the Nature journal, Nasa scientists say that the planets are drier and cloudier than predicted and that water is 'hidden' under high, dusty clouds unlike any seen in planets in our solar system.
Much is anticipated of the tools used by Spitzer in this discovery; Mark Swain of Nasa's jet propulsion laboratory believes they will help to one day find if life exists beyond Earth.
"With these new observations, we are refining the tools that we will one day need to find life elsewhere if it exists. It's sort of like a dress rehearsal," he said.