How a Small Old Telescope Made an Important Discovery
Department:
Astrotech
Teaser:
The 30-year-old, 3-meter-diameter (10-foot) Infrared Telescope Facility that ranks 40th among ground-based telescopes was the first such telescope to detect methane in the atmosphere of an exoplanet. Spectral analysis of the atmosphere of an exoplanet had previously been carried out only with space telescopes.
Source:
ScienceDaily: Latest Science News Download time: Feb 9 2010 7:22 AM ET
NASA astronomers have successfully demonstrated that a David of a telescope can tackle Goliath-size questions in the quest to study Earth-like planets around other stars. Their work, reported in the journal Nature, provides a new tool for ground-based observatories, promising to accelerate by years the search for prebiotic, or life-related, molecules on planets orbiting stars beyond our solar system.
The scientists reported on a new technique used with a relatively small Earth-based telescope to identify an organic molecule in the atmosphere of a Jupiter-size planet nearly 63 light-years away. The measurement revealed details of the exoplanet's atmospheric composition and conditions, an unprecedented achievement from an Earth-based observatory.
The surprising new finding comes from a venerable 30-year-old, 3-meter-diameter (10-foot) telescope that ranks 40th among ground-based telescopes -- NASA's Infrared Telescope Facility atop Mauna Kea, Hawaii.…
