backtop

Print 39 comment(s) - last by masher2.. on Apr 15 at 6:38 PM
The debate on whether or not Osiris has water in its atmosphere continues

A new analysis again suggests that gas giant HD209458b currently has water in its atmosphere.  The planet -- nicknamed Osiris -- is 150 light years away from Earth, located in the Pegasus constellation.  The planet was first detected in late November 1999, with the help of astronomical spectroscopy.  

The hot, Jupiter-like gaseous planet has been the target of research once scientists believed water could be located somewhere on the planet.  Three teams of scientists previously believed there could be water in the planet's atmosphere, but those ideas were questioned after the NASA Spitzer Space Telescope was unable to provide evidence.

Travis Bartman, an astronomer working at Lowell Observatory, believes he has discovered the missing water after analyzing the light from a star when it passes through HD209458b's atmosphere.

Barman and researchers from Harvard University measured the light coming from Osiris as it reached the furthest part of the 3.5-day orbit it makes around the star.  With the help of the Hubble Space Telescope, it was possible to further study water absorption in the planet's atmosphere.  Each time the planet passes its parent star, it is possible to analyze how the atmosphere absorbs light passing from the star through the atmosphere.    

Scientists will continue to study and conduct research to either confirm or deny Barman's research.

Comments     Threshold


This article is over a month old, voting and posting comments is disabled
RE: Will that help?
By oTAL on 4/13/2007 10:11:46 AM , Rating: 2
quote:
If a man weighs 200lb (~91 kg) on the surface of the earth his mass would be ~91/9.81 = 9.267 kg.


I'm not sure about the rest of your post but this line was stupid enough for me (or maybe you're tired and you made a mistake).
Do you the difference between mass and weight? Mass is an absolute concept and you are confusing Kg with Newtons. You probably meant that if someone weighs 91KgF = ~910N, then his mass would be (pretty much anywhere) 91Kg.
The rest of your post kind of makes a good argument about the distance from the center of mass of a given object which is important when discussing gravitational pull.


"The whole principle [of censorship] is wrong. It's like demanding that grown men live on skim milk because the baby can't have steak." -- Robert Heinlein









botimage
Copyright 2013 DailyTech LLC. - RSS Feed | Advertise | About Us | Ethics | FAQ | Terms, Conditions & Privacy Information | Kristopher Kubicki