Astronomers Find Blue Planet Outside Solar System - Spokane, North Idaho News & Weather KHQ.com

Astronomers Find Blue Planet Outside Solar System

Posted: Updated:

LONDON (AP) - Astronomers have for the first time managed to determine the color of a planet outside our solar system, a blue gas giant 63 light-years away.

Using the Hubble Space Telescope, an international team said the planet known as HD 189733B would look like a deep blue dot if viewed up close.

"Measuring the planet's color is a real first — we have never managed it before with a planet outside our own solar system," Frederic Pont of the University of Exeter in England said Friday.

While Earth looks blue from space because of its oceans, the astronomers said the planet's color was created by a hazy turbulent atmosphere of silicate particles that scatter blue light. To determine the planet's color, the team measured the amount of light reflected off its surface as it passed behind its star.

Discovered in 2005, the planet belongs to a class of giant gas planets called "hot Jupiters" that orbit close to their stars. It has a daytime temperature of around 1,000 degrees Celsius (1,832 F), and the heat causes rocks to evaporate and glass to possibly rain sideways in howling 4,500 mph (about 7,250 kph) winds.

Astronomers chose the planet for observation because of its proximity to Earth and size in relation to the star it orbits. A light-year is nearly 6 trillion miles.

Pont said the technology the astronomers used pushed the Hubble telescope to its limit given the distance and light from other stars obscuring their view.

"People keep coming up with a better way of viewing planets indirectly so I'm sure the technology will eventually improve," Pont said.

  • Most Popular StoriesMost Popular Stories

  • Wednesday, December 11 2013 9:36 AM EST2013-12-11 14:36:12 GMT
    SPOKANE, Wash. - For anyone whose parents have moved into their home or for those looking to possibly rent out part of their home, houses with in-law type set ups are ideal.
    SPOKANE, Wash. - For anyone whose parents have moved into their home or for those looking to possibly rent out part of their home, houses with in-law type set ups are ideal. It's a great way to give yourself and the person living in your home separate space and it helps to keep the sanity.

  • Wednesday, December 11 2013 5:07 PM EST2013-12-11 22:07:35 GMT
    Winter on Lake Coeur d'Alene means many things. People come from all over to see the lights illuminate the lake near the resort. 
    Winter on Lake Coeur d'Alene means many things. People come from all over to see the lights illuminate the lake near the resort. But they also come for nature. And in the winter, that means Bald Eagles taking advantage of all of the fish.  KHQ Local News Reporter Gabe Cohen tagged along with some eagle enthusiasts Monday morning.

  • Tuesday, December 10 2013 9:29 PM EST2013-12-11 02:29:21 GMT
    KENNEWICK, Wash. (AP) - Police in Kennewick, Wash., say a missing 14-year-old girl has talked with her mother and says she is in Mexico and is OK.
    KENNEWICK, Wash. (AP) - Police in Kennewick, Wash., say a missing 14-year-old girl has talked with her mother and says she is in Mexico and is OK. KNDO says police confirmed Tuesday that the mother of Elizabeth Romero spoke with her daughter by phone and the girl said she is in Jalisco, Mexico.

  • Top Stories from KHQTop Stories

  • Thursday, December 12 2013 3:01 AM EST2013-12-12 08:01:35 GMT
    SPOKANE, Wash. - Emergency crews on the south hill were called to a car crash late Wednesday night.
    SPOKANE, Wash. - Emergency crews on the south hill were called to a car crash late Wednesday night.  Police say around 11:00pm a man was driving his SUV westbound on 37th when he went through the stop sign at Perry, hit a brick landscaping wall, and flipped his SUV. When firefighters arrived they had to cut the roof off of the SUV to get the man out. We are told he suffered only minor injuries.

  • Thursday, December 12 2013 2:32 AM EST2013-12-12 07:32:32 GMT

    SPOKANE, Wash. - Sharlotte McGill's name and face have become very familiar in the Inland Northwest area ever since she was brutally murdered outside her NE Spokane apartment on May 3, 2012 by an apparent stranger.

     

     

    SPOKANE, Wash. - Sharlotte McGill's name and face have become very familiar in the Inland Northwest area ever since she was brutally murdered outside her NE Spokane apartment on May 3, 2012 by an apparent stranger. INSIDE>>>|RAW INTERVIEW|

     

  • Thursday, December 12 2013 1:55 AM EST2013-12-12 06:55:36 GMT
    SPOKANE, Wash. - It was a cold winter night in Riverfront Park on Wednesday as a group of kids boarded a train. 
    SPOKANE, Wash. - It was a cold winter night in Riverfront Park on Wednesday as a group of kids boarded a train. But this wasn't just any train, it is the first annual North Pole Express on its way to see Santa Claus. The idea came from the Spokane Parks Department and for the very first trip they invited some very special kids and their parents.
    •