NASA | JPL-Caltech | HubbleSite | 2016 Jun 08
[img3="Hot Jupiters, exoplanets around the same size as Jupiter that orbit very closely to their stars, often have cloud or haze layers in their atmospheres. This may prevent space telescopes from detecting atmospheric water that lies beneath the clouds, according to a study in the Astrophysical Journal. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech"]http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/images/hubble/2 ... 687-16.jpg[/img3][hr][/hr]Water is a hot topic in the study of exoplanets, including "hot Jupiters," whose masses are similar to that of Jupiter, but which are much closer to their parent star than Jupiter is to the sun. They can reach a scorching 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit (1,100 degrees Celsius), meaning any water they host would take the form of water vapor.
Astronomers have found many hot Jupiters with water in their atmospheres, but others appear to have none. Scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, wanted to find out what the atmospheres of these giant worlds have in common.
Researchers focused on a collection of hot Jupiters studied by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. They found that the atmospheres of about half of the planets were blocked by clouds or haze. ...
A Characteristic Transmission Spectrum Dominated by H2O
Applies to the Majority of HST/WFC3 Exoplanet Observations - Aishwarya R. Iyer et al
- Astrophysical Journal 823(2):109 (01 June 2016) DOI: 10.3847/0004-637X/823/2/109
arXiv.org > astro-ph > arXiv:1512.00151 > 01 Dec 2015 (v1), 01 Apr 2016 (v2)
http://asterisk.apod.com/viewtopic.php?t=35461