by HILMAR SCHMUNDT
For the first time, scientists have been able to analyze the atmosphere of a distant planet. The success could prove a milestone on the road toward finding life beyond our solar system.
Its atmosphere is stiflingly hot, with temperatures generally hovering around 800 degrees Celsius (1,470 degrees Fahrenheit) — in the shade. The air is filled with billowing clouds of highly toxic gas.
Anyone setting foot on this faraway planet would die a speedy death. Nevertheless, the recently launched study of HR 8799 c is a breakthrough in the search for extraterrestrial life.
Astronomers unveiled a groundbreaking achievement in the field of metrology last week. By measuring the spectrum of light coming from HR 8799 c, they have managed to determine the chemical composition of its atmosphere. “For the first time, we have directly obtained the spectrum of a planet outside our solar system,” says study co-author Wolfgang Brandner of the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy in Heidelberg.
Nowadays, the discovery of planets outside our solar system has become practically routine. In recent years, scientists have discovered more than 400 of these so-called exoplanets. But in most cases, their existence could only be proven indirectly, for example, by virtue of the fact that they cause a slight weakening in the light emitted by a much brighter star.
Mechanical Ballet
Only with the help of the world’s most advanced observatory, and the European-run “Very Large Telescope” (VLT), did it become possible to directly capture the weak light coming from a planet and analyzing it using spectroscopy. The massive telescope is located on a 2,600-meter (8,528-foot) peak in Chile’s Atacama Desert.
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