Length of Exoplanet Day Measured for 1st Time

[Waspie_Dwarf]

Length of Exoplanet Day Measured for First Time

VLT measures the spin of Beta Pictoris b

Observations from ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) have, for the first time, determined the rotation rate of an exoplanet. Beta Pictoris b has been found to have a day that lasts only eight hours. This is much quicker than any planet in the Solar System — its equator is moving at almost 100,000 kilometres per hour. This new result extends the relation between mass and rotation seen in the Solar System to exoplanets. Similar techniques will allow astronomers to map exoplanets in detail in the future with the European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT).

Exoplanet Beta Pictoris b orbits the naked-eye star Beta Pictoris, which lies about 63 light-years from Earth in the southern constellation of Pictor (The Painter’s Easel). This planet was discovered nearly six years ago and was one of the first exoplanets to be directly imaged. It orbits its host star at a distance of only eight times the Earth-Sun distance - making it the closest exoplanet to its star ever to be directly imaged.

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[Waspie_Dwarf]

Zooming in on Beta Pictoris

This sequence starts with a broad view of the southern sky and closes in on the bright star Beta Pictoris in the constellation of Pictor (The Artist’s Easel). This young star is surrounded by a dusty disc and also orbited by a large planet that is the first exoplanet to have had its spin measured. It has an equatorial rotation velocity of almost 100 000 kilometres/hour — much faster than any of the planets in the Solar System.

Credit: ESO/Digitized Sky Survey 2/Nick Risinger (skysurvey.org)/L. Calçada. Music: movetwo

Source: ESO Observatory

[taniwha]

It is not known why some planets spin fast and others more slowly, says co-author Remco de Kok, but this first measurement of an exoplanet’s rotation shows that the trend seen in the Solar System, where the more massive planets spin faster, also holds true for exoplanets. This must be some universal consequence of the way planets form.

I would think the bigger they are the harder they fall rule applies throughout the universe and that means the harder they fall the faster they spin.

Edited May 1, 2014 by taniwha

[spacecowboy342]

I'm not sure that applies. The earth spun much faster before the moon slowed us down