mick silver
15th February 2015, 08:52 AM
Newly Discovered Exoplanet With Extreme Seasons Called A 'Real Maverick'
The Huffington Post Cooper-White (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/macrinac-white/)
Posted: 02/15/2015 10:05 am EST Updated: 41 minutes ago
http://s.huffpost.com/images/social/pin_icon_onhover.png (http://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.huffingtonpost.com%2F2015%2F 02%2F15%2Fkepler-432b-exoplanet-extreme-seasons_n_6672378.html%3Fncid%3Dtxtlnkusaolp000005 92&media=undefined&description=Newly Discovered Exoplanet With Extreme Seasons Called A Real Maverick)http://i.huffpost.com/gen/2608114/thumbs/n-KEPLER-SPACE-TELESCOPE-large570.jpg Artist’s conception of the Kepler space telescope. | NA
Two groups of astronomers working independently in Germany have discovered a massive new exoplanet (http://www.uni-heidelberg.de/presse/news2015/pm20150212_heidelberg-astronomers-discover-rare-planet.html) that's quite strange--for a few reasons.
The newfound exoplanet, dubbed Kepler-432b (http://www.mpia.de/news/science/2015-01-Kepler-432b), was monitored by NASA's Kepler space telescope (http://kepler.nasa.gov/) from 2009 to 2013 and identified as a planetary candidate in 2011. Using the 2.2-meter telescope at Calar Alto Observatory in Andalucía, Spain and the Nordic Optical Telescope on La Palma in the Canary Islands, the researchers are now confirming that, indeed, it's a planet.
(Story continues below image.)
http://s.huffpost.com/images/social/pin_icon_onhover.png (http://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.huffingtonpost.com%2F2015%2F 02%2F15%2Fkepler-432b-exoplanet-extreme-seasons_n_6672378.html%3Fncid%3Dtxtlnkusaolp000005 92&media=http://i.huffpost.com/gen/2608126/thumbs/o-KEPLER-432B-570.jpg?3&description=Newly Discovered Exoplanet With Extreme Seasons Called A Real Maverick)http://i.huffpost.com/gen/2608126/thumbs/o-KEPLER-432B-570.jpg?3
lllustration of the orbit of Kepler-432b (inner, red) in comparison to the orbit of Mercury around the Sun (outer, orange). The red dot in the middle indicates the position of the star around which the planet is orbiting. The size of the star is shown to scale, while the size of the planet has been magnified ten times for illustration.
Analyzing the data from both telescopes, the researchers discovered Kepler-432b is incredibly dense; though it's around the same size as Jupiter, its mass is six times that of the gas giant. Its orbit around its host star, a red giant with a radius that's four times that of our Sun, is also unusual.
“The majority of known planets moving around giant stars have large and circular orbits," Dr. Davide Gandolfi, an astronomer at Heidelberg University's Center for Astronomy (http://www.zah.uni-heidelberg.de/zah/news/detail/?no_cache=1&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=42&cHash=5cc5fd87e208984e7a86d6ec440f1c3b) in Germany and a researcher involved in the discovery, said in a written statement. "With its small and highly elongated orbit, Kepler-432b is a real ‘maverick’ among planets (http://www.uni-heidelberg.de/presse/news2015/pm20150212_heidelberg-astronomers-discover-rare-planet.html) of this type."
Due to the orbit's elongated shape, Kepler-432b's seasons are extreme, with temperatures ranging from 932 degrees Fahrenheit in winter to 1,832 degrees Fahrenheit in summer. A year on the planet corresponds to roughly 52 Earth days, according to the researchers.
And the planet is only one of five (http://www.mpia.de/news/science/2015-01-Kepler-432b) observed orbiting a red giant host star at such a close distance. Red giants (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_18ubTIfYbo) are stars in their last stage of life. They can grow to become anywhere from 10 to 100 times their original size, and as they grow, any planets nearby are at risk of being devoured.
So though Kepler-432b has been able to survive near its star so far, it likely won't be around for much longer.
“The days of Kepler-432b are numbered,” Mauricio Ortiz, a PhD student at Heidelberg University who led one of the two studies of the planet, said in the statement. “In less than 200 million years, Kepler-432b will be swallowed by its continually expanding host star.”
Two papers (http://www.aanda.org/articles/aa/abs/2015/01/aa25145-14/aa25145-14.html) describing the discovery (http://www.aanda.org/articles/aa/abs/2015/01/aa25146-14/aa25146-14.html) have been published in the January 2015 issue of the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics.
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Artists' Conceptions Of Extrasolar Planets
1 of 8
http://i.huffpost.com/gadgets/slideshows/210750/slide_210750_717712_free.jpgGetty
this handout illustration made available on December 5, 2011 by NASA, the Kepler-22b, a planet known to comfortably circle in the habitable zone of a sun-like star is digitally illustrated. For the first time NASA's Kepler mission has confirmed a planet to orbit in a star's habitable zone; the region around a star, where liquid water, a requirement for life on Earth, could persist. The planet is 2.4 times the size of Earth, making it the smallest yet found to orbit in the middle of the habit. Clouds could exist in this earth's atmosphere, as the artist's interpretive illustration depicts. (Photo Illustration by Ames/JPL-Caltech/NASA via Getty ImaIn this handout illustration made available on December 5, 2011 by NASA, a diagram compares our own solar system to Kepler-22, a star system containing the first 'habitable zone' planet discovered by NASA's Kepler mission. The habitable zone is the sweet spot around a star where temperatures are right for water to exist in its liquid form. Liquid water is essential for life on Earth. The diagram displays an artist's rendering of the planet comfortably orbiting within the habitable zone, similar to where Earth circles the sun. Kepler-22b has a yearly orbit of 289 days. The planet is the smallest known to orbit in the middle of the habitable zone of a sun-like star and is about 2.4 times the size of Earth. (Photo Illustration by Ames/JPL-Caltech/NASA via Getty Images)
http://i.huffpost.com/gadgets/slideshows/210750/slide_210750_717714_sq50.jpgArtist's conception released by NASA of extrasolar planet HD 209458 b, also known as Osiris, orbiting its star in the constellation Pegasus, some 150 light years from Earth's solar system. Scientists have used an infrared spectrum -- the first ever obtained for an extrasolar planet -- to analyze Osiris' atmosphere, which is said to contain dust but no water. The planet's surface temperature is more than 700 Celsius (1330 Fahrenheit).'
http://i.huffpost.com/gadgets/slideshows/210750/slide_210750_717715_sq50.jpgPicture released 04 October 2006 by the European Space Agency shows an artist's impression of a Jupiter-sized planet passing in front of its parent star. Such events are called transits. When the planet transits the star, the star's apparent brightness drops by a few percent for a short period. Through this technique, astronomers can use the Hubble Space Telescope to search for planets across the galaxy by measuring periodic changes in a star's luminosity. The first class of exoplanets found by this technique are the so-called 'hot Jupiters,' which are so close to their stars they complete an orbit within days, or even hours. A seam of stars at the centre of the Milky Way has shown astronomers that an entirely new class of planets closely orbiting distant suns is waiting to be explored, according to a paper published 04 October 2006. An international team of astronomers, using a camera aboard NASA's Hubble telescope, delved into a zone of the Milky Way known as the 'galactic bulge', thus called because it is rich in stars and in the gas and dust which go to make up stars and planets. The finding opens up a new area of investigation for space scientists probing extrasolar planets - planets that orbit stars other than our own. AFP PHOTO NASA/ESA/K. SAHU (STScI) AND THE SWEEPS SCIENCE TEAM
http://i.huffpost.com/gadgets/slideshows/210750/slide_210750_717716_sq50.jpgPicture released 04 October 2006 by the European Space Agency shows an artist's impression of a unique type of exoplanet discovered with the Hubble Space Telescope. This image presents a purely speculative view of what such a 'hot Jupiter' (word dedicated to planets so close to their stars with such short orbital periods) might look like. A seam of stars at the centre of the Milky Way has shown astronomers that an entirely new class of planets closely orbiting distant suns is waiting to be explored, according to a paper published 04 October 2006. An international team of astronomers, using a camera aboard NASA's Hubble telescope, delved into a zone of the Milky Way known as the 'galactic bulge', thus called because it is rich in stars and in the gas and dust which go to make up stars and planets. The finding opens up a new area of investigation for space scientists probing extrasolar planets - planets that orbit stars other than our own. AFP PHOTO NASA/ESA/K. SAHU (STScI) AND THE SWEEPS SCIENCE TEAM
Scientist have found a new potentially habitable planet.
From the Spitzer Science Center. While astronomers have identified over 500 planets around other stars, they're all too small and distant to fill even a single pixel in our most powerful telescopes. That's why science must rely on art to help us imagine these strange new worlds. From Spitzer Space Telescope. Even without pictures of these exoplanets, astronomers have learned many things that can be illustrated in artwork. For instance, measurements of the temperatures of many "Hot Jupiters," massive worlds orbiting very close to their stars, hint that their atmospheres may be as dark as soot, glowing only from their own heat. While "Hot Jupiters" would be relatively dark in visible light, compared to their stars, their brightness is proportionally much greater in the infrared. Illustrating this dramatic contrast change helps explain why the infrared eye of NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope plays a key role in studying exoplanets. As our understanding evolves, so must the artwork. Astronomers found a blazing hot spot on the exoplanet Upsilon Andromedae b that at first, appeared to face towards its star. More data has revealed that the hottest area is actually strangely rotated almost 90 degrees away, near the day/night terminator. WASP 12b is as hot as the filament in a light bulb, and would be blazing bright to our eyes. Most interestingly, if it proves to have a strongly elliptical orbit, as first thought, calculations show it would be shedding some of its outer atmosphere ...
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NASA's Kepler Mission Discovers Planet
In this handout illustration made available on December 5, 2011 by NASA, the Kepler-22b, a planet known to comfortably circle in the habitable zone of a sun-like star is digitally illustrated. For the first time NASA's Kepler mission has confirmed a planet to orbit in a star's habitable zone; the region around a star, where liquid water, a requirement for life on Earth, could persist. The planet is 2.4 times the size of Earth, making it the smallest yet found to orbit in the middle of the habit. Clouds could exist in this earth's atmosphere, as the artist's interpretive illustration depicts. (Photo Illustration by Ames/JPL-Caltech/NASA via Getty Images)
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Exoplanet (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/exoplanet/) Exoplanets (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/exoplanets/) Kepler (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/kepler/) Kepler Telescope (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/kepler-telescope/) Kepler Space Telescope (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/kepler-space-telescope/) Kepler Planets (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/kepler-planets/) Kepler Planet Discovery (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/kepler-planet-discovery/) NASA (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/nasa/) Space (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/space/) Astronomy (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/astronomy/) New Planets (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/new-planets/) New Exoplanet (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/new-exoplanet/) Kepler 432b (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/kepler-432b/)
The Huffington Post Cooper-White (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/macrinac-white/)
Posted: 02/15/2015 10:05 am EST Updated: 41 minutes ago
http://s.huffpost.com/images/social/pin_icon_onhover.png (http://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.huffingtonpost.com%2F2015%2F 02%2F15%2Fkepler-432b-exoplanet-extreme-seasons_n_6672378.html%3Fncid%3Dtxtlnkusaolp000005 92&media=undefined&description=Newly Discovered Exoplanet With Extreme Seasons Called A Real Maverick)http://i.huffpost.com/gen/2608114/thumbs/n-KEPLER-SPACE-TELESCOPE-large570.jpg Artist’s conception of the Kepler space telescope. | NA
Two groups of astronomers working independently in Germany have discovered a massive new exoplanet (http://www.uni-heidelberg.de/presse/news2015/pm20150212_heidelberg-astronomers-discover-rare-planet.html) that's quite strange--for a few reasons.
The newfound exoplanet, dubbed Kepler-432b (http://www.mpia.de/news/science/2015-01-Kepler-432b), was monitored by NASA's Kepler space telescope (http://kepler.nasa.gov/) from 2009 to 2013 and identified as a planetary candidate in 2011. Using the 2.2-meter telescope at Calar Alto Observatory in Andalucía, Spain and the Nordic Optical Telescope on La Palma in the Canary Islands, the researchers are now confirming that, indeed, it's a planet.
(Story continues below image.)
http://s.huffpost.com/images/social/pin_icon_onhover.png (http://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.huffingtonpost.com%2F2015%2F 02%2F15%2Fkepler-432b-exoplanet-extreme-seasons_n_6672378.html%3Fncid%3Dtxtlnkusaolp000005 92&media=http://i.huffpost.com/gen/2608126/thumbs/o-KEPLER-432B-570.jpg?3&description=Newly Discovered Exoplanet With Extreme Seasons Called A Real Maverick)http://i.huffpost.com/gen/2608126/thumbs/o-KEPLER-432B-570.jpg?3
lllustration of the orbit of Kepler-432b (inner, red) in comparison to the orbit of Mercury around the Sun (outer, orange). The red dot in the middle indicates the position of the star around which the planet is orbiting. The size of the star is shown to scale, while the size of the planet has been magnified ten times for illustration.
Analyzing the data from both telescopes, the researchers discovered Kepler-432b is incredibly dense; though it's around the same size as Jupiter, its mass is six times that of the gas giant. Its orbit around its host star, a red giant with a radius that's four times that of our Sun, is also unusual.
“The majority of known planets moving around giant stars have large and circular orbits," Dr. Davide Gandolfi, an astronomer at Heidelberg University's Center for Astronomy (http://www.zah.uni-heidelberg.de/zah/news/detail/?no_cache=1&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=42&cHash=5cc5fd87e208984e7a86d6ec440f1c3b) in Germany and a researcher involved in the discovery, said in a written statement. "With its small and highly elongated orbit, Kepler-432b is a real ‘maverick’ among planets (http://www.uni-heidelberg.de/presse/news2015/pm20150212_heidelberg-astronomers-discover-rare-planet.html) of this type."
Due to the orbit's elongated shape, Kepler-432b's seasons are extreme, with temperatures ranging from 932 degrees Fahrenheit in winter to 1,832 degrees Fahrenheit in summer. A year on the planet corresponds to roughly 52 Earth days, according to the researchers.
And the planet is only one of five (http://www.mpia.de/news/science/2015-01-Kepler-432b) observed orbiting a red giant host star at such a close distance. Red giants (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_18ubTIfYbo) are stars in their last stage of life. They can grow to become anywhere from 10 to 100 times their original size, and as they grow, any planets nearby are at risk of being devoured.
So though Kepler-432b has been able to survive near its star so far, it likely won't be around for much longer.
“The days of Kepler-432b are numbered,” Mauricio Ortiz, a PhD student at Heidelberg University who led one of the two studies of the planet, said in the statement. “In less than 200 million years, Kepler-432b will be swallowed by its continually expanding host star.”
Two papers (http://www.aanda.org/articles/aa/abs/2015/01/aa25145-14/aa25145-14.html) describing the discovery (http://www.aanda.org/articles/aa/abs/2015/01/aa25146-14/aa25146-14.html) have been published in the January 2015 issue of the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics.
Also on HuffPost:
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Artists' Conceptions Of Extrasolar Planets
1 of 8
http://i.huffpost.com/gadgets/slideshows/210750/slide_210750_717712_free.jpgGetty
this handout illustration made available on December 5, 2011 by NASA, the Kepler-22b, a planet known to comfortably circle in the habitable zone of a sun-like star is digitally illustrated. For the first time NASA's Kepler mission has confirmed a planet to orbit in a star's habitable zone; the region around a star, where liquid water, a requirement for life on Earth, could persist. The planet is 2.4 times the size of Earth, making it the smallest yet found to orbit in the middle of the habit. Clouds could exist in this earth's atmosphere, as the artist's interpretive illustration depicts. (Photo Illustration by Ames/JPL-Caltech/NASA via Getty ImaIn this handout illustration made available on December 5, 2011 by NASA, a diagram compares our own solar system to Kepler-22, a star system containing the first 'habitable zone' planet discovered by NASA's Kepler mission. The habitable zone is the sweet spot around a star where temperatures are right for water to exist in its liquid form. Liquid water is essential for life on Earth. The diagram displays an artist's rendering of the planet comfortably orbiting within the habitable zone, similar to where Earth circles the sun. Kepler-22b has a yearly orbit of 289 days. The planet is the smallest known to orbit in the middle of the habitable zone of a sun-like star and is about 2.4 times the size of Earth. (Photo Illustration by Ames/JPL-Caltech/NASA via Getty Images)
http://i.huffpost.com/gadgets/slideshows/210750/slide_210750_717714_sq50.jpgArtist's conception released by NASA of extrasolar planet HD 209458 b, also known as Osiris, orbiting its star in the constellation Pegasus, some 150 light years from Earth's solar system. Scientists have used an infrared spectrum -- the first ever obtained for an extrasolar planet -- to analyze Osiris' atmosphere, which is said to contain dust but no water. The planet's surface temperature is more than 700 Celsius (1330 Fahrenheit).'
http://i.huffpost.com/gadgets/slideshows/210750/slide_210750_717715_sq50.jpgPicture released 04 October 2006 by the European Space Agency shows an artist's impression of a Jupiter-sized planet passing in front of its parent star. Such events are called transits. When the planet transits the star, the star's apparent brightness drops by a few percent for a short period. Through this technique, astronomers can use the Hubble Space Telescope to search for planets across the galaxy by measuring periodic changes in a star's luminosity. The first class of exoplanets found by this technique are the so-called 'hot Jupiters,' which are so close to their stars they complete an orbit within days, or even hours. A seam of stars at the centre of the Milky Way has shown astronomers that an entirely new class of planets closely orbiting distant suns is waiting to be explored, according to a paper published 04 October 2006. An international team of astronomers, using a camera aboard NASA's Hubble telescope, delved into a zone of the Milky Way known as the 'galactic bulge', thus called because it is rich in stars and in the gas and dust which go to make up stars and planets. The finding opens up a new area of investigation for space scientists probing extrasolar planets - planets that orbit stars other than our own. AFP PHOTO NASA/ESA/K. SAHU (STScI) AND THE SWEEPS SCIENCE TEAM
http://i.huffpost.com/gadgets/slideshows/210750/slide_210750_717716_sq50.jpgPicture released 04 October 2006 by the European Space Agency shows an artist's impression of a unique type of exoplanet discovered with the Hubble Space Telescope. This image presents a purely speculative view of what such a 'hot Jupiter' (word dedicated to planets so close to their stars with such short orbital periods) might look like. A seam of stars at the centre of the Milky Way has shown astronomers that an entirely new class of planets closely orbiting distant suns is waiting to be explored, according to a paper published 04 October 2006. An international team of astronomers, using a camera aboard NASA's Hubble telescope, delved into a zone of the Milky Way known as the 'galactic bulge', thus called because it is rich in stars and in the gas and dust which go to make up stars and planets. The finding opens up a new area of investigation for space scientists probing extrasolar planets - planets that orbit stars other than our own. AFP PHOTO NASA/ESA/K. SAHU (STScI) AND THE SWEEPS SCIENCE TEAM
Scientist have found a new potentially habitable planet.
From the Spitzer Science Center. While astronomers have identified over 500 planets around other stars, they're all too small and distant to fill even a single pixel in our most powerful telescopes. That's why science must rely on art to help us imagine these strange new worlds. From Spitzer Space Telescope. Even without pictures of these exoplanets, astronomers have learned many things that can be illustrated in artwork. For instance, measurements of the temperatures of many "Hot Jupiters," massive worlds orbiting very close to their stars, hint that their atmospheres may be as dark as soot, glowing only from their own heat. While "Hot Jupiters" would be relatively dark in visible light, compared to their stars, their brightness is proportionally much greater in the infrared. Illustrating this dramatic contrast change helps explain why the infrared eye of NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope plays a key role in studying exoplanets. As our understanding evolves, so must the artwork. Astronomers found a blazing hot spot on the exoplanet Upsilon Andromedae b that at first, appeared to face towards its star. More data has revealed that the hottest area is actually strangely rotated almost 90 degrees away, near the day/night terminator. WASP 12b is as hot as the filament in a light bulb, and would be blazing bright to our eyes. Most interestingly, if it proves to have a strongly elliptical orbit, as first thought, calculations show it would be shedding some of its outer atmosphere ...
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NASA's Kepler Mission Discovers Planet
In this handout illustration made available on December 5, 2011 by NASA, the Kepler-22b, a planet known to comfortably circle in the habitable zone of a sun-like star is digitally illustrated. For the first time NASA's Kepler mission has confirmed a planet to orbit in a star's habitable zone; the region around a star, where liquid water, a requirement for life on Earth, could persist. The planet is 2.4 times the size of Earth, making it the smallest yet found to orbit in the middle of the habit. Clouds could exist in this earth's atmosphere, as the artist's interpretive illustration depicts. (Photo Illustration by Ames/JPL-Caltech/NASA via Getty Images)
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