Posted on 04/10/2007 12:23:38 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
thanks, bfl
Scientists have identified at least 200 "crucial elements" necessary for any planet to be able to sustain life. So far we have never identified a planet with more than 2 of those elements.
So far we have never identified a planet with more than 2 of those elements.
Well, only one so far.
Oh, wait a minute...
even I was surprised, but I’d guess that I set it up...
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=hd209458b
Too Close For Comfort: Hubble Discovers An Evaporating Planet
Science Daily | FR Post 3-15-03 | Editorial Staff
Posted on 03/14/2003 9:03:50 AM EST by vannrox
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/864636/posts
Hubble Probes Layer-cake Structure
of Alien World’s Atmosphere [HD 209458b]
HubbleSite | January 31, 2007 | Donna Weaver/Ray Villard
Posted on 02/01/2007 2:23:00 AM EST by SunkenCiv
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1777230/posts
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Sounds pretty significant... Now, how about giving this planet a real name instead of a serial number?
Water vapour is (technically speaking) water that is part gas and part liquid. It is at exactly 100 degrees C and 1 atmosphere. If the pressure is lower, the boiling point is lower. Once your liquid goes above 100 degrees C at 1 atmosphere you now have gas. Vapour is partially liquid, gas is not. Clouds are made up of liquid water not gaseous. There is a technical measure of the amount of liquid versus gas in a vapour called quality, it measures the relative masses of liquid and vapour.
Only that it is the first extrasolar planet with this discovery. The first of many. When they find a planet with 20% oxygen that will be beyond significant since plant life would have done that.
Water detected on distant planet
****************EXCERPT********************
Cosmic puzzle
Astronomer Travis Barman, from the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, US, found what he says is strong evidence for water absorption in the atmosphere of the transiting planet.
The conclusions stemmed from an analysis of Hubble Space Telescope measurements by Harvard University astronomer Heather Knutson and new theoretical models developed by Dr Barman.
He said his findings provide good reason to believe other planets beyond our Solar System also have water vapour in their atmospheres, despite the failure by another group to find water on the same world.
"I'm very confident," said Dr Barman, "it's definitely good news because water has been predicted to be present in the atmosphere of this planet and many of the other ones for some time."
He added that a Jupiter-like gaseous planet such as this one, as opposed to a rocky one like Earth, is highly unlikely to harbour any kind of life.
"Certainly this is part of that puzzle - understanding the distribution of water in other solar systems is important for understanding whether or not conditions for life are possible," he explained.
Planet shine
Telescope technologies are being developed that will probe the very faint light from these objects for tell-tale signs of biology.
These are the same "life markers" known to be present in light reflected off the Earth - so-called "earthshine".
They include signatures for water, and gases such as oxygen and methane and perhaps more complex molecules such as chlorophyll - the pigment which makes the process of photosynthesis possible.
HD209458b belongs to a type of extrasolar planet known as "hot Jupiters". These planets orbit precariously close to their stars.
The planet's outer atmosphere is expanded and heated so much by the nearby star that it is escaping the planet's gravity. Hydrogen boils off in the upper atmosphere under the searing heat from the star.
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