Waspie_Dwarf Posted December 3, 2013 #1 Share Posted December 3, 2013 Hubble Traces Subtle Signals of Water on Hazy Worlds Using the powerful eye of NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, two teams of scientists have found faint signatures of water in the atmospheres of five distant planets.The presence of atmospheric water was reported previously on a few exoplanets orbiting stars beyond our solar system, but this is the first study to conclusively measure and compare the profiles and intensities of these signatures on multiple worlds. Read more... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waspie_Dwarf Posted December 3, 2013 Author #2 Share Posted December 3, 2013 NASA | Alien AtmospheresSince the early 1990's, astronomers have known that extrasolar planets, or "exoplanets," orbit stars light-years beyond our own solar system. Although most exoplanets are too distant to be directly imaged, detailed studies have been made of their size, composition, and even atmospheric makeup - but how? By observing periodic variations in the parent star's brightness and color, astronomers can indirectly determine an exoplanet's distance from its star, its size, and its mass. But to truly understand an exoplanet astronomers must study its atmosphere, and they do so by splitting apart the parent star's light during a planetary transit. Credit: NASASource: NASA - Multimedia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
margiel Posted December 5, 2013 #3 Share Posted December 5, 2013 Too hot for life, but not so hot that the water has been boiled away? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hazzard Posted December 5, 2013 #4 Share Posted December 5, 2013 (edited) Too hot for life, but not so hot that the water has been boiled away? They havent found liquid water (how could they?) ,... the H2O they detected is high up in the atmosphere of the planet. Edited December 5, 2013 by Hazzard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FLOMBIE Posted December 5, 2013 #5 Share Posted December 5, 2013 They havent found liquid water (how could they?) ,... the H2O they detected is high up in the atmosphere of the planet. Shouldn't they better call it water vapor then? I know, H2O refers to this as well, but simply saying water always refers to the liquid state. It is misleading, if you ask me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waspie_Dwarf Posted December 5, 2013 Author #6 Share Posted December 5, 2013 Shouldn't they better call it water vapor then? I know, H2O refers to this as well, but simply saying water always refers to the liquid state. It is misleading, if you ask me. Why do people always blame the article as misleading when they have leaped to the wrong conclusion? The article states that water was found in the atmosphere, which means it MUST be in the form of vapour. Nothing misleading if you take the time to read what was actually said. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lava_Lady Posted December 5, 2013 #7 Share Posted December 5, 2013 I'm always amazed when I read about findings like this... sometimes I can't even find my car keys while I'm driving and the Hubble telescope has found water in the atmosphere in distances I can't even comprehend! Amazing. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moonshadow60 Posted December 5, 2013 #8 Share Posted December 5, 2013 I agree with Lava Lady. It's all so fascinating to me. Perhaps there is the possibility that someday when they are examining a planet someone will kind of wave into the camera to let us know they exist. At least, I would like to think so. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
highdesert50 Posted December 6, 2013 #9 Share Posted December 6, 2013 Remarkable how a telescope with flawed mirrors, multiple mission repairs, and continued mechanical degradation from long use, has made such amazing discoveries and brought renewed public interest in the space program. Let us hope there will be no delays nor funding loss for the upcoming replacement, James Webb telescope. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coolguy Posted December 6, 2013 #10 Share Posted December 6, 2013 Where there is water there is life 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WelshRed Posted December 6, 2013 #11 Share Posted December 6, 2013 It's only a matter of time now. We are NOT alone. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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