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Exoplanet Atmospheres Reveal 'Peculiar' Fingerprints
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Image of the HR8799 planets with starlight optically suppressed and data processing conducted to remove residual starlight. The star is at the center of the blackened circle in the image. The four spots indicated with the letters b through e are the planets. This is a composite image using 30 wavelengths of light and was obtained over a period of 1.25 hours on June 14 and 15, 2012.
(Image credit: American Museum of Natural History)
The chemical fingerprints of four alien planets have revealed unexpected patterns, new research finds.
According to SPACE.com, scientists were surprised to find that the chemical compositions of four massive planets 128 light-years away weren't as mixed as expected. At the temperatures of these planets — 1340 degrees Fahrenheit (727 degrees Celsius) — researchers would expect to see atmospheric mixes of ammonia and methane. Instead, each of the four worlds exhibited either ammonia or methane, but not both.
