Exoplanet med vulkanism?

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Ett försök att visa hur global vulkanism på 55 Cancri e skulle kunna se ut vid olika tidpunkter.         NASA/JPL-Caltech/R. Hurt (IPAC)

 

För första gången har man på en exoplanet observerat kraftiga temperaturförändringar, som skulle kunna tolkas som omfattande vulkanism på planetytan. Spitzer-rymdteleskopet har tittat närmare på planeten 55 Cancri e, en superjord som ingår i ett planetsystem med hittills fem upptäckta planeter.

55 Cancri e, som upptäcktes redan 2004, ligger på ett avstånd från solen på 40 ljusår och är därmed ganska välstuderad. Det är en stenplanet med en massa ca 8 gånger större än jordens. Som en sk USP (Ultra-Short Period), har den en omloppstid runt sin stjärna på bara 18 tim (!) och ett medelavstånd på bara ca 2 miljoner kilometer. Den blir således mycket kraftigt upphettad av sin moderstjärna.   

Forskarna använde NASAs Spitzer rymdteleskop för att observera planeten under ett par års tid. Med Spitzer gör man observationer i den infraröda delen av spektret och kunde med den registrera temperaturer mellan 1000 och 2700 grader på den varma sidan av planeten. En tänkbar förklaring till detta skulle såledas kunna vara omfattande och snabbt varierande vulkanism.

 

Using NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope, the researchers observed thermal emissions coming from the planet, called 55 Cancri e – orbiting a sun-like star located 40 light years away in the Cancer constellation – and for the first time found rapidly changing conditions, with temperatures on the hot ‘day’ side of the planet swinging between 1000 and 2700 degrees Celsius. - See more at: http://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/astronomers-find-first-evidence-of-changing-conditions-on-a-super-earth#sthash.heYpQUVe.dpuf
Using NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope, the researchers observed thermal emissions coming from the planet, called 55 Cancri e – orbiting a sun-like star located 40 light years away in the Cancer constellation – and for the first time found rapidly changing conditions, with temperatures on the hot ‘day’ side of the planet swinging between 1000 and 2700 degrees Celsius. - See more at: http://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/astronomers-find-first-evidence-of-changing-conditions-on-a-super-earth#sthash.heYpQUVe.dpuf
Using NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope, the researchers observed thermal emissions coming from the planet, called 55 Cancri e – orbiting a sun-like star located 40 light years away in the Cancer constellation – and for the first time found rapidly changing conditions, with temperatures on the hot ‘day’ side of the planet swinging between 1000 and 2700 degrees Celsius. - See more at: http://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/astronomers-find-first-evidence-of-changing-conditions-on-a-super-earth#sthash.heYpQUVe.dpuf
Using NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope, the researchers observed thermal emissions coming from the planet, called 55 Cancri e – orbiting a sun-like star located 40 light years away in the Cancer constellation – and for the first time found rapidly changing conditions, with temperatures on the hot ‘day’ side of the planet swinging between 1000 and 2700 degrees Celsius. - See more at: http://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/astronomers-find-first-evidence-of-changing-conditions-on-a-super-earth#sthash.heYpQUVe.dpuf
Using NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope, the researchers observed thermal emissions coming from the planet, called 55 Cancri e – orbiting a sun-like star located 40 light years away in the Cancer constellation – and for the first time found rapidly changing conditions, with temperatures on the hot ‘day’ side of the planet swinging between 1000 and 2700 degrees Celsius. - See more at: http://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/astronomers-find-first-evidence-of-changing-conditions-on-a-super-earth#sthash.heYpQUVe.dpuf
Using NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope, the researchers observed thermal emissions coming from the planet, called 55 Cancri e – orbiting a sun-like star located 40 light years away in the Cancer constellation – and for the first time found rapidly changing conditions, with temperatures on the hot ‘day’ side of the planet swinging between 1000 and 2700 degrees Celsius. - See more at: http://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/astronomers-find-first-evidence-of-changing-conditions-on-a-super-earth#sthash.heYpQUVe.dpuf

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Pressmeddelande från  vid Cambridge University.

Originalartikeln från upptäckargruppen.

 

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