Water, Weird Clouds Found on Alien 'Warm Neptune'

[Judi Lynn]

By Mike Wall, Space.com Senior Writer | May 11, 2017 02:01pm ET


Astronomers have spotted water vapor and evidence of exotic clouds in the atmosphere of an alien planet known as HAT-P-26b.

The researchers also determined that HAT-P-26b's atmosphere is dominated by hydrogen and helium to a much greater degree than that of Neptune or Uranus, the alien world's closest counterparts in our own solar system in terms of mass.

"This exciting new discovery shows that there is a lot more diversity in the atmospheres of these exoplanets than we have previously thought," David Sing, an astrophysics professor at the University of Exeter in England, said in a statement. [Gallery: The Strangest Alien Planets]

"This 'warm Neptune' is a much smaller planet than those we have been able to characterize in depth, so this new discovery about its atmosphere feels like a big breakthrough in our pursuit to learn more about how solar systems are formed, and how it compares to our own," added Sing, the co-leader of a new study about HAT-P-26b that was published online today (May 11) in the journal Science.

More:
http://www.space.com/36805-warm-neptune-exoplanet-water-exotic-clouds.html?utm_source=notification

[Thor_MN]

1. I've always considered Uranus to have some exotic gases.

Yeah, someone was going to say it, may as well be me.

[Judi Lynn]

2. Neptune-like exoplanet spotted that has a watery atmosphere

11 May 2017


By Leah Crane

Not all gas giants are created equal. Observations of the Neptune-like exoplanet HAT-P-26b show that its atmosphere is less rich in heavy elements than expected, meaning it probably formed close to its star.

In our solar system, the gas giants’ metal content can be plotted on a straight line: the lighter a gassy planet is, the more heavy elements its atmosphere contains. Jupiter’s atmosphere has less heavy elements than Neptune’s, for example.

But in order to study the atmospheres of planets around other stars, they need to meet very particular conditions: the planet must pass between its star and us, and the star must be bright enough for us to discern changes in its light as it shines through the planet’s atmosphere. That makes it difficult to tell if the heavy element relationship holds true for gas giants outside our solar system.

“We really need to learn how other solar systems can form in order to put our own solar system in context,” says Hannah Wakeford at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. “What we’re trying to learn ultimately is how easy it is to form a solar system like our own.”

More:
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2130730-neptune-like-exoplanet-spotted-that-has-a-watery-atmosphere/?utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=ILC&utm_campaign=webpush&cmpid=ILC%257CNSNS%257C2016-GLOBAL-webpush-neptune