Kepler Detects an Exoplanet Atmosphere

Worth a read:

science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2009/06aug_kepler2.htm?list1303722

Michael.

A great step forward in the search for life also.

I kind of curled my mouth slightly when I read the first line:

NASA's new exoplanet-hunting Kepler space telescope has detected the atmosphere of a known giant gas planet, demonstrating the telescope's extraordinary scientific capabilities.

It's like they knew it was there already, so where is the challenge for Kepler? I mean, wouldn't you say that a gas giant has an atmosphere de facto?

Seanie.

I had to revisit this as I didn't know what they had - that they did not previously have. I now see it.

The light curve is exquisite in that it avoids much noise from our atmosphere (there was a comparision with ground-based measurements on the kepler site). But when the curve is zoomed into (pre and post transit) one sees the effect of light being refleted back to earth from the changing phases of the planet's atmospheric surface. It gets darker before transit and brighter post transit.

There is a very interesting dip post-transit taht requires explanation though.

kepler.nasa.gov/

The kepler web site has changed - this information was not made clear earlier - but is clearer now.

Mark

I think it is basically a test of the equipment against a known reference.
What is interesting is how well defined the light curve is compared to data from earth.

michaeloconnell wrote:

What is interesting is how well defined the light curve is compared to data from earth.

For the kind of money spent on Kepler, I'd say it had better be better!

The dip post-transit is interesting alright. I didn't have a thorough read of the NASA website but I hope its explained somewhere at some point in the future.