Waspie_Dwarf Posted December 31, 2013 #1 Share Posted December 31, 2013 NASA's Hubble Sees Cloudy Super-Worlds With Chance for More Clouds Scientists using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have characterized the atmospheres of two of the most common type of planets in the Milky Way galaxy and found both may be blanketed with clouds.The planets are GJ 436b, located 36 light-years from Earth in the constellation Leo, and GJ 1214b, 40 light-years away in the constellation Ophiuchus. Despite numerous efforts, the nature of the atmospheres surrounding these planets had eluded definitive characterization until now. The researchers described their work as an important milestone on the road to characterizing potentially habitable, Earth-like worlds beyond the solar system. Their findings appear in separate papers in the Jan. 2 issue of the journal Nature. Read more... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DemonicCupcake Posted January 3, 2014 #2 Share Posted January 3, 2014 "In the second study, researchers investigating a super-Earth world located 40 light years away found even clearer signs of cloud cover in its atmosphere. Using high-precision instruments they were able to rule out the presence of water vapor, methane, nitrogen, carbon monoxide, or carbon dioxide." Doesn't that make it NOT like Earth, or...? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duchess Gummybuns Posted January 3, 2014 #3 Share Posted January 3, 2014 Clouds. Uh... I can't think of a cloud pun... Ah, I guess I'm not as high flying as I used to be. I TRIED. AT LEAST I TRIED. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moonshadow60 Posted January 3, 2014 #4 Share Posted January 3, 2014 (edited) This is when I find science to be totally worthwhile. I don't know why; at that distance I will never set foot on either planet, but still it is interesting to know that someday human kind may, and they will know prior that when it rains there, if it rains, what the rain is made of. Edited January 3, 2014 by moonshadow60 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taun Posted January 3, 2014 #5 Share Posted January 3, 2014 Perhaps they are more "Venus like" than "Earth Like"... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waspie_Dwarf Posted January 3, 2014 Author #6 Share Posted January 3, 2014 Doesn't that make it NOT like Earth, or...? Nowhere in the article does it say that these planets ARE Earth-like. What it does say is this: The researchers described their work as an important milestone on the road to characterizing potentially habitable, Earth-like worlds beyond the solar system.(My emphasis)In fact is specifically states that these are NOT Earth like: The two planets fall in the middle range in mass, between smaller, rockier planets such as Earth and larger gas giants such as Jupiter. GJ 436b is categorized as a "warm Neptune" because it is much closer to its star than frigid Neptune is to the sun. GJ 1214b is known as a "super-Earth" because of its size. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alfonso Posted January 3, 2014 #7 Share Posted January 3, 2014 this super earth sounds most intresting , would that mean if theres life of some sort also on it might that be supersize too? like giants lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harte Posted January 3, 2014 #8 Share Posted January 3, 2014 Clouds. Uh... I can't think of a cloud pun... Ah, I guess I'm not as high flying as I used to be. I TRIED. AT LEAST I TRIED. Don't know why There's no sun up in the sky Stormy alien weather. 'Bout good as it gets. Anyone else? Harte Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adirondack-Bob Posted January 4, 2014 #9 Share Posted January 4, 2014 "nearby worlds" and "36 light years away" don't seem like they belong to the same subject. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coolguy Posted January 4, 2014 #10 Share Posted January 4, 2014 That's cool the Hubble found clouds, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waspie_Dwarf Posted January 7, 2014 Author #11 Share Posted January 7, 2014 "nearby worlds" and "36 light years away" don't seem like they belong to the same subject. In a galaxy that is more than 100,000 light years across, 36 ly is practically next door. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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