Thursday 1 March 2018

Hubble observes exoplanet atmosphere in more detail than ever before

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An international team of scientists has used the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope to study the atmosphere of the hot exoplanet WASP-39b. By combining this new data with older data they created the most complete study yet of an exoplanet atmosphere. The atmospheric composition of WASP-39b hints that the formation processes of exoplanets can be very different from those of our own Solar System giants.
via Science Daily
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NASA Finds a Large Amount of Water in an Exoplanet's Atmosphere


Researchers Surprised by How Much Water Found in Atmosphere of WASP-39b

Using Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes, scientists studied the “hot Saturn” called WASP-39b — a hot, bloated, Saturn-mass exoplanet located about 700 light-years from Earth. By dissecting starlight filtering through the planet’s atmosphere into its component colors, the team found clear evidence for a large amount of water vapor. In fact, WASP-39b has three times as much water as Saturn does. Although the researchers predicted they’d see water, they were surprised by how much they found. This suggests that the planet formed farther out from the star, where it was bombarded by a lot of icy material. Because WASP-39b has so much more water than Saturn, it must have formed differently from our famously ringed neighbor.


via Hubble - News feed
http://hubblesite.org/news_release/news/2018-09

Durable wood 'sponges' act as green sensors of mechanical strain

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Striking just the right balance between softness and sturdiness, balsa wood is a choice material for crafting anything from model airplanes to full-size wind turbine blades. Scientists have opened up a new realm of possibilities for balsa by hijacking its natural structure with chemical and physical treatments to transform it into a 'wood carbon sponge' capable of enduring repeated compression and other extreme mechanical conditions.
via Science Daily

Converting CO2 into usable energy

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Scientists show that single nickel atoms are an efficient, cost-effective catalyst for converting carbon dioxide into useful chemicals.
via Science Daily

Cellphones on the Moon? Not So Fast

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Nokia and Vodaphone say they plan to put a high-speed cellular network on the moon. If recent history is a guide, don’t expect this to go exactly to plan.
via New York Times

Mars Express views moons set against Saturn's rings

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New images and video from ESA’s Mars Express show Phobos and Deimos drifting in front of Saturn and background stars, revealing more about the positioning and surfaces of the Red Planet’s mysterious moons.


via ESA Space Science
http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/Mars_Express/Mars_Express_views_moons_set_against_Saturn_s_rings

When do aging brown dwarfs sweep the clouds away?

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Brown dwarfs, the larger cousins of giant planets, undergo atmospheric changes from cloudy to cloudless as they age and cool. A team of astronomers measured for the first time the temperature at which this shift happens in young brown dwarfs. Their findings may help them better understand how gas giant planets like our own Solar System's Jupiter evolved.
via Science Daily
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