Signs of water seen on moon around Jupiter AND on planet outside solar system - Page 2 - Political Forum

05-01-2007, 03:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Slartibartfas

How did they find out that there is water on an extrasolar planet?
Are scientists already able to see large extrasolar planets directly? I thought they found them all only indirectly through inregularities in the movement of the sun?

But maybe I am not up to date here. Perhaps someone could enlighten me here?

It's mostly indirectly, they for example thought that based on the dense atmosphere of blue moon what kind of animals could be there and how they'll evolve.

05-01-2007, 03:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Slartibartfas

Well, my question was more in the direction of how one can find out if on a extrasolar planet has water or not, if they have no direct light from it.

Chemical analysis normally takes place with spectral analysis, but for that you need light deriving from the planet. The light from the sun next to this planet won't do the job.

I think by the clouds that are visible. may be clouds of water only have this particular shape.not sure about that though.
the planet next to them is a huge gassy planet which only causes huge tides, doesn't have anything to do with light. there are two suns in the system though, which cause the dense atmosphere.

05-01-2007, 03:45 PM

or even the color of the planet itself (blue-moon)

05-01-2007, 03:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Slartibartfas

There are visible clouds? Are you sure? If that would be the case, they could list you every ingredient of the whole atmosphere in detail. Not only water.

But the tides might be a possibility to prove the existence of water without having any direct light of the planet.

I'm sure what I saw in the video, which looked like clouds, just like we see in space pictures of the Earth.
I guess you didn't read my post completely. there is direct light of two suns on the blue moon.

05-01-2007, 04:02 PM

Blue Moon is a moon with a 240 hour day that orbits a planet in a twin star solar system. Its atmosphere is three times denser than Earth's and behaves like a suspended ocean, supporting life that floats and glides through the sky. It has carbon dioxide levels 30 times those of Earth's, which fuels rampant plant growth, and oxygen levels over four times higher which supercharges animal life with more than twice the muscular strength. Dr. Martin Heath, a geoscientist with the Ecospheres Project, says, "I think that one day we may indeed find something rather like the Blue Moon ... this is no longer the stuff of science fiction."

National Geographic imagines alien life in new TV series

read this page, Aurellia is also really interesting:

A place of extremes, one side of Aurelia is permanently exposed to starlight, the other in eternal freezing darkness. There are no seasons, days or nights. Cloud and lightning storms cover the center of the light side, while a giant ice cap smothers much of the dark side. As viewers descend into the light side, violent storm clouds give way to a landscape of immense rivers and vast flood plains, several times bigger than the Amazon.

Slartibartfas · 05-01-2007, 04:07 PM

No its all completely hypothetical, even though of cours a very interesting mind play:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aurelia_and_Blue_Moon

05-01-2007, 04:28 PM

I see.. in the TV program and also on the natgeo page I read about the discovery of space telescopes, and no where about the planets themselve are hypothetical.
I don't know trust which one. but anyway, that's wikipedia...so probably it is hypothetical.

05-01-2007, 04:30 PM

oh that's right, here it is:

"Extraterrestrial," premiering in the USA Monday, May 30th 2005 from 9:00-11:00 p.m. ET/PT (encore Thursday, June 2 from 9:00-11:00 p.m. ET/PT), is a new show that creates two worlds which scientists believe could exist in our own Milky Way galaxy, putting evolution into motion to investigate what life forms could survive there. Utilizing a combination of computer generated imaging and 3-D effects, "Extraterrestrial" takes viewers on a galactic journey to come face-to-face with alien life forms.

"Extraterrestrial" reflects the contributions of scientists from NASA (the National Aeronautics and Space Administration), universities and organizations like the Ecospheres Project and the SETI Institute (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence). The experts anticipate discoveries to be made in the near future, when super-powerful new telescopes will begin watching the fringes of the Milky Way for signs of life.

National Geographic imagines alien life in new TV series