hsedin33 Posted July 12, 2013 Share Posted July 12, 2013 http://www.cnn.com/2013/07/11/world/space-blue-planet/index.html?hpt=hp_t1 (CNN) -- Astronomers have found a deep azure blue planet orbiting a star 63 light years away -- the first time they've been able to determine the actual color of a planet outside our solar system, NASA and the European Space Agency said Thursday. The planet, known as HD 189733b, is a gas giant with a daytime temperature of 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit where it possibly rains liquid glass sideways amid 4,500 mph winds, NASA says. The blue color comes not from the reflection of an ocean, as on Earth, "but rather a hazy, blow-torched atmosphere containing high clouds laced with silicate particles," NASA says. "Silicates condensing in the heat could form very small drops of glass that scatter blue light more than red light." The space agencies said astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope discovered the planet in 2005 but only now have they been able to use Hubble's observations to determine the deep blue color. The blue color, seen in this illustration, comes not from oceans, but from glass that rains sideways, scientists theorize. The Hubble telescope shows the region of sky where the planet was discovered. The findings are in the August 1 issue of The Astrophysical Journal Letters. To deduce the planet's color, astronomers measured how much light was reflected off its surface. They used the Hubble's Space Telescope to look at the planet before, during and after it passed behind its star as it orbited. "We saw the brightness of the whole system drop in the blue part of the spectrum when the planet passed behinds its star," said Tom Evans of the University of Oxford, the first author of the paper. "From this, we can gather that the planet is blue, because the signal remained constant at the other colors we measured." The planet is only 2.9 million miles from its parent star, so close that it is gravitationally locked, NASA says. One side always faces the star and the other side is always dark. By contrast, Mercury, the closest planet in our solar system to the sun, is 29 million miles away from the sun at its closest. In 2007, NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope measured the infrared light, or heat, from the HD 189733b. It showed day side and night side temperatures differ by about 500 degrees Fahrenheit, which should cause fierce winds to roar from the day side to the night side, NASA said. The atmosphere, the space agencies say, is changeable and exotic. HD 189733b is in a class of planets called "hot Jupiters," which are similar in size to the gas giants in our solar system but instead lie very close to their parent star, the European Space Agency says. "We know that hot Jupiters are numerous throughout the universe," the ESA said in a statement. "As we do not have one close to home in our own solar system, studies of planets like HD 189733b are important to help us understand these dramatic objects." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AbbyNucksFan Posted July 12, 2013 Share Posted July 12, 2013 very cool.. being able to see something 63 million light years away is absolutely mind boggling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Go Faulk Yourself Posted July 12, 2013 Share Posted July 12, 2013 Just gonna drop this here for the hell of it. It's a cool video about planets that are similar to the one mentioned above (in terms of strange weather/atmospheres etc..) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlayStation Posted July 12, 2013 Share Posted July 12, 2013 This stuff amazes me like nothing else, I'm with you Bryzgalov! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJDDawg Posted July 12, 2013 Share Posted July 12, 2013 Just mind blowing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NightHawkSniper Posted July 12, 2013 Share Posted July 12, 2013 This stuff amazes me like nothing else, I'm with you Bryzgalov! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stonecoldstevebernier Posted July 12, 2013 Share Posted July 12, 2013 I love hearing stuff like this, it blows my mind what could be out there and how much there is that we haven't discovered - that we may never discover. Part of me really wishes I'd gone into Astronomy because I'm just fascinated by the endless possibilities. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buddhas Hand Posted July 12, 2013 Share Posted July 12, 2013 very cool.. being able to see something 63 million light years away is absolutely mind boggling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tortorella's Rant Posted July 12, 2013 Share Posted July 12, 2013 Considering how technological advances are exponential you never know Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a Fool Posted July 12, 2013 Share Posted July 12, 2013 I know it will be used as another means to kill one another. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buddhas Hand Posted July 12, 2013 Share Posted July 12, 2013 I know it will be used as another means to kill one another. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghostsof1915 Posted July 12, 2013 Share Posted July 12, 2013 Gets more wild when you think the light you're seeing today is from 1950. If it's sun blew up, we wouldn't know about it for 63 years. Want to blow your mind more? The Pleiades star cluster in the constellation Taurus is 391 light years away. So when you look at them at night, that light that's reaching your eyes is from 1621 AD. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hudson bay rules Posted July 12, 2013 Share Posted July 12, 2013 very cool.. being able to see something 63 million light years away is absolutely mind boggling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrainWetzky Posted July 12, 2013 Share Posted July 12, 2013 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avelanch Posted July 12, 2013 Share Posted July 12, 2013 i love how they just assume it's raining sideways glass... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pistolpro327 Posted July 13, 2013 Share Posted July 13, 2013 i love how they just assume it's raining sideways glass... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hsedin33 Posted July 13, 2013 Author Share Posted July 13, 2013 This is what I immediately thought as well lol. I was like " Always been amazed at these science discoveries..... hmm how do we know they're right if the light is so far away... and what about it makes them so sure it rains glass ... Maybe scientists stay relevant by making stuff up that no one can confirm... whatever back to poker.... " loldopesobaked Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarthNinja Posted July 13, 2013 Share Posted July 13, 2013 i love how they just assume it's raining sideways glass... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saskatchewan Canucks Fan Posted July 14, 2013 Share Posted July 14, 2013 Unbelievable stuff. My mind is blown Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erik Karlsson Posted July 14, 2013 Share Posted July 14, 2013 i love how they just assume it's raining sideways glass... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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