Far-Out Chemistry! Detecting an Extrasolar Planet's Atmosphere

The researchers decided to look for traces of sodium, and when the light was analyzed the hoped-for thick black lines indicating sodium atoms appeared at the appropriate places in the yellow-green region of the starlight's spectrum. Although the star also had sodium in its outer atmosphere, the spectrograph was able to measure a slight additional filtration of sodium (a difference of less than one percent) from the light's passage through the planet's atmosphere.

"It's hugely exciting to nail down anything at all about something as mysterious as planets outside our solar system," says Brown. "Is this planet's chemical personality unique or is it typical of a certain class of extrasolar planets. We have no clue. We hope to find out."

The researchers plan to measure other colors in the planet's spectrum during future transits, searching for methane, water vapor, potassium and other chemicals in the atmosphere of the planet.

According to Charbonneau, "This opens up an exciting new phase of extrasolar planet exploration, where we can begin to compare and contrast the atmospheres of planets around other stars."

Go To Page: 1 2

Articles in this Topic    Discussions in this Topic