Live
- HMPV Outbreaks Spark Global Health Concerns: What You Need to Know
- Gautam Gambhir Faces Criticism Over Tactical Errors in Australia Tour
- CM Revanth Reddy Announces Surprise District Tours Starting January 26
- Telangana's TOMCOM Invites Applications for Driver Jobs in Germany
- Calcutta HC rejects plea by rights body for stall allotment at Kolkata Book Fair
- Bengaluru Beer Prices to Rise by Up to 20% Starting January 20
- My Fans Are Like Disciplined Soldiers: Nandamuri Balakrishna
- Adani Group raises Rs 4,850 crore after selling 13.5 pc stake in Adani Wilmar
- "Jogulamba Gadwal Health Officials Assure Public: No Panic Over HMPV Virus".
- "Charity and Annadanam Program Held on BOSS Hanumanthu Naidu’s Birthday".
Strong water signature found in Neptune-sized planet's atmosphere
Combining observations from NASA\'s Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes, researchers have detected strong water signature in the atmosphere of a distant Neptune-sized planet.The distant planet HAT-P-26b has a primitive atmosphere composed almost entirely of hydrogen and helium, said the study published in the journal Science. Located about 437 light years away, HAT-P-26b orbits a star roughly twi
Washington: Combining observations from NASA's Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes, researchers have detected strong water signature in the atmosphere of a distant Neptune-sized planet.The distant planet HAT-P-26b has a primitive atmosphere composed almost entirely of hydrogen and helium, said the study published in the journal Science. Located about 437 light years away, HAT-P-26b orbits a star roughly twice as old as the Sun.
The researchers determined that HAT-P-26b's atmosphere is relatively clear of clouds and has a strong water signature, although the planet is not a water world. The discovery of atmosphere with this composition on the exoplanet has implications for how scientists think about the birth and development of planetary systems.
"Astronomers have just begun to investigate the atmospheres of these distant Neptune-mass planets, and almost right away, we found an example that goes against the trend in our solar system," said lead author of the study Hannah Wakeford, a postdoctoral researcher at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Centre in Greenbelt, Maryland.
The analysis is believed to be one of the most detailed studies to date of a "warm Neptune," or a planet that is Neptune-sized and close to its star.To study HAT-P-26b's atmosphere, the researchers used data from transits -- occasions when the planet passed in front of its host star.
