Hell off Earth: Blustery Exoplanet Charted in 2-D for First Time
Astronomers have made a crude two-dimensional thermal map of an extrasolar world they cannot yet see, confirming that violent winds rapidly whip around the planet
By John Matson | February 27, 2012 | 2
A mere 60 light-years away, orbiting an orangish star called HD 189733, is a world an Earthling would not want to visit. The planet is a gas giant, like Jupiter or Saturn, but unlike those familiar worlds this one hugs tightly to its host star, orbiting at about one thirtieth the distance at which Earth circles the sun. The exoplanet, labeled HD 189733 b by astronomical convention, stays mighty toasty under its astronomical broiler, with temperatures upward of 900 degrees Celsius.
Thanks to a new study, any hypothetical unfortunates forced to visit HD 189733 b will know which part of the planet is the most infernal. A trio of researchers at the University of Washington in Seattle (U.W.), Columbia University and Northwestern University has produced a thermal map of the planet's atmosphere in both latitude and longitude. Their research appears in the March 10 The Astrophysical Journal Letters.
The map is somewhat crude, but that is no surprise given that HD 189733 b cannot even be seen in the conventional sense. As is the case for most of the 750-plus exoplanets that astronomers have identified to date, its presence and properties are inferred from indirect observations—for instance, by monitoring how much starlight the planet blocks when passing in front of its parent star.
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http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=exo-mapping
