Tuesday, October 1, 2013
Kepler-7b Exoplanets Found With Patchy Clouds By NASA Telescope - Pentagon Post
Astronomers have found patchy clouds on exotic world, a Jupiter-like world named Kepler-7b. Kepler and Spitzer space telescopes of NASA have come up with first cloud map of the planet located beyond our solar system.
In the new cloud map the Kepler-7b is seen marked by high clouds in the west where as the east region is seen as clear skies. Earlier the astronomers created temperature maps of the planet orbiting other stars.
Brice-Olivier Demory of Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge said, "By observing this planet with Spitzer and Kepler for more than three years, we were able to produce a very low-resolution 'map' of this giant, gaseous planet… We wouldn't expect to see oceans or continents on this type of world, but we detected a clear, reflective signature that we interpreted as clouds."
Demory is also the lead author of the paper that is published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters.
More than 150 exoplanets have been discovered by Kepler orbiting other stars outside our solar system. Kepler-7b was one of the first outer planets to be discovered by the telescope, which is currently under problematic reaction wheels and not capable of hunting further planets any more. However, astronomers have continued their effort in deep browsing of its collected data of about four years.
Kepler scientists Thomas Barclay at NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field said, "Kepler-7b reflects much more light than most giant planets we've found, which we attribute to clouds in the upper atmosphere… Unlike those on Earth, the cloud patterns on this planet do not seem to change much over time — it has a remarkably stable climate."
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Source : http://www.pentagonpost.com/kepler-7b-exoplanets-found-with-patchy-clouds-by-nasa-telescope/83412342
