Spitzer Studies Extrasolar Planet Atmospheres
NASA Media Teleconference on Planets Beyond Our Solar System
“Astronomers are scheduled to announce new findings about planets beyond our solar system at a media teleconference Wednesday, Feb. 21, at 10 a.m. PST. The findings are from NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope.”
A Spitzer Spectrum of the Exoplanet HD 189733b
“The detection of HD 189733b’s spectral continuum, accomplished with only 12 hours of Spitzer time, is a remarkable demonstration of the capability and utility of the Spitzer Space Telescope and the Infrared Spectrograph.”
A Spectrum of an Extrasolar Planet
“Here we report a measurement of the infrared spectrum (7.5–13.2 micron) of the transiting extrasolar planet HD209458b. Our observations reveal a hot thermal continuum for the planetary spectrum, with approximately constant ratio to the stellar flux over this wavelength range. Superposed on this continuum is a broad emission peak centered near 9.65 micron that we attribute to emission by silicate clouds.”