Applying typing planets, based on analysis of existing objects in the solar system, the extrasolar planets is quite easy to make a mistake. A good example of this - an extrasolar planet in the constellation Vulpecula, struck the first astronomers its blueness. However, it turned out that it does not create the atmosphere of Earth-like and not water, and clouds of fine glass.
From space, the Earth - the blue planet, the white curls of clouds. Its atmosphere scatters blue light of the visible spectrum of the sun, so the air blue shell of our planet. The Earth#39;s blue vests multifaceted life on the surface and in water depths. A completely different blue found on the recently studied exoplanets.
Amazed the astronomers of his deep blue planet was caught watchful Hubble Space Telescope. It refers to a type of hot Jupiters - large exoplanet, is rapidly circulating close to its star, strongly heated in its emission. In the constellation of Vulpecula (63 light years from Earth) observed an orange dwarf star HD 189733, and found this exoplanet, called HD 189733b. Heated to 1000 ° C on the surface of a hemisphere facing the dwarf, the planet, like our Moon always faces its gravitating to the center of one side.
By the way, it is curious that a year on this planet lasts 2 Earth days: so fast, its rotation around the world! Nor is it the other party never sees direct light orange dwarf star HD 189733, meaning there reigns an eternal twilight. It is obvious that such an object can not be an atmosphere similar to Earth#39;s, and being there oceans of liquid water is very, very doubtful. Whence came this strange blue, and that fixed the Hubble?
The exotic planet, astronomers studied led by Tom Evans of the University of Oxford in the UK. Her piercing blue became a scientific challenge for scientists, and they offered an interesting solution.
In the beginning about how the researchers determined the color of the exoplanets. Of course, even Hubble could not provide it with a color photo. We are separated by vast distances of space, but the possibility of a comparative analysis helped to identify the color of the planet. In its rapid rotation of the orbital it is positioned in front of a star, passing over his face glowing, light passing through its atmosphere, and then bypassing shining and reflecting its light, its entire illuminated surface dissipating it. From a comparison of the brightness and wavelength of these registrations was detected spectral region of the visible spectrum - bright cobalt blue!
What experts explain the observation? First, in such a heated atmosphere to form fine powerful cloud - they can create the sodium atoms, devouring the visible radiation, it is red. And something has to reflect the scattered blue light - is likely to microdroplets of molten silicon material, it has a glass slurry in an atmosphere of an exoplanet!
Thus, there is no water on this exoplanet and does not smell - blue captured by the Space Telescope, created a kind of dispersed glass windows, which are present in the atmosphere. Consequently, this planet should not be regarded as a potentially habitable - that, however, it was clear from the outset, because the probability of finding life on an object belonging to a class of hot Jupiters, very, very small. This example shows how easy it is to make a mistake, using existing typing planets in such distant from our heavenly bodies like HD 189733b.
Let me remind you that it was the color of the planets in the solar system and laid the foundation for the standard at the moment of typing: Blue Earth is a living, rather lifeless, but also blue Uranus and Neptune, light-colored brownish-yellow color, very different Venus, Jupiter and Saturn, the yellow-orange Titan and Mars. Now comes the turn of typing exoplanets color - cobalt blue of HD 189733b and its explanation of the output in the investigation of the alleged composite of exoplanet.
ChShirokie study of exoplanets in the near future will provide such opportunities will be explored and the most interesting to us of the planet, which are located in the habitable zone, similar to our Earth, that is located on the remoteness of these orbiting bodies where water can exist in liquid form. The remarkable ability of space missions will provide scientists information about the colors inherent in extrasolar planets, and then it becomes more clear, where there may be the cradle of life, like our own Earth.
