Alien World Seven Times Bigger Than Jupiter Has 'Water Vapour' Atmosphere

[marcus300]

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013...?ncid=webmail7



An alien world seven times the size of Jupiter has been found in a distant star system.

Astronomers detected clouds of carbon monoxide and water vapour around the huge gassy planet, orbiting a star 130 light years away.

The study is the most detailed yet of the atmosphere of an "exoplanet".

In future, scientists hope to use similar techniques to uncover signatures of life in the atmospheres of Earth-like worlds.

The planet, known as HR 8799c, has seven times the mass of Jupiter and is one of four similar planets distantly orbiting the star.

Observations suggest the solar system was created in a similar way to our own, with gas giants forming far away from their parent star and smaller, rocky planets closer in.

If this model is correct, there could be as-yet undetected Earth-like planets waiting to be found.

"The results suggest the HR 8799 system is like a scaled-up Solar System," said Dr Quinn Kanopacky, one of the astronomers from the University of Toronto in Canada.


Light wavelength "colours" act like fingerprints for different elements. By studying the light from a distant planet, scientists can make assumptions about what elements are contained in its atmosphere.

The presence of oxygen's cousin ozone or carbon dioxide, for instance, could indicate that a world harbours life.

Because HR 8799c is so big and far out - about the same distance from its star as Pluto is from the Sun - astronomers were able to image it directly rather than infer its presence.

The observations were made using the Keck II 10-metre telescope in Hawaii, one of the two largest optical telescopes in the world.

Dr Bruce Macintosh, from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, US, one of the co-authors of the research published in the journal Science, said: "This is the sharpest spectrum ever obtained of an extrasolar planet. This shows the power of directly imaging a planetary system. It is the exquisite resolution afforded by these new observations that has allowed us to really begin to probe planet formation

[lovbyts]

Someday someone is going to get upset at us peeping at them and come knocking on our door.

[Armykid93]

Someday someone is going to get upset at us peeping at them and come knocking on our door.

Lol that will be frightening

Good post Marcus

[Flagg]

Awesome thread Marcus!

130 light years away, doesn't seem far in Sci Fi terms but we could never reach it in conventional terms.

I am confident that our telescopes will get better and more detailed and soon we'll be able to 'zoom in' on places like this. I'd love to know what kind of life exists there..

[ghettoboyd]

nice post, I love this kind of stuff...as infinite as the universe is we would all be foolish to think we are the only ones living on the only planet that can promote and sustain life...just saying...

[Times Roman]

I think we are going to realize real quick that most of these gas giants have water vapor

[Knockout_Power]

Was huge into astronomy back in jr high. But all the dreaming for something I wouldnt see in my lifetime got me dissapointed. Im glad they are finding this stuff, but money needs to be spent here to correct things.

Besides, if we find places with intelligent life on it, N. Korea will just try to destroy it

[marcus300]

Awesome thread Marcus!

130 light years away, doesn't seem far in Sci Fi terms but we could never reach it in conventional terms.

I am confident that our telescopes will get better and more detailed and soon we'll be able to 'zoom in' on places like this. I'd love to know what kind of life exists there..

Life exists??? what an amazing this to discover wouldn't it

[Times Roman]

Was huge into astronomy back in jr high. But all the dreaming for something I wouldnt see in my lifetime got me dissapointed. Im glad they are finding this stuff, but money needs to be spent here to correct things.

Besides, if we find places with intelligent life on it, N. Korea will just try to destroy it

so if N.Korea rattles it's saber in the vacuums of "empty" space.........

........does anyone hear it?

[Flagg]

Life exists??? what an amazing this to discover wouldn't it

Even if the surface area is water vapour and carbon monoxide, at the size this planet is at thats possibly more water than exists on earth. Maybe some form of extremophiles live there, maybe basic forms of plankton. Thats a lot of water to NOT have life existing there in some form..

[Knockout_Power]

Even if the surface area is water vapour and carbon monoxide, at the size this planet is at thats possibly more water than exists on earth. Maybe some form of extremophiles live there, maybe basic forms of plankton. Thats a lot of water to NOT have life existing there in some form..

I'd go anywhere the Kardashians or Beiber havent landed yet

[marcus300]

Even if the surface area is water vapour and carbon monoxide, at the size this planet is at thats possibly more water than exists on earth. Maybe some form of extremophiles live there, maybe basic forms of plankton. Thats a lot of water to NOT have life existing there in some form..

Do you think even advance life forms could exists?

[Rwy]

Awesome thread Marcus!

130 light years away, doesn't seem far in Sci Fi terms but we could never reach it in conventional terms.

I am confident that our telescopes will get better and more detailed and soon we'll be able to 'zoom in' on places like this. I'd love to know what kind of life exists there..

This may sound crazy but I think they already know and have found life on other planets. They just know the general public (religious people) would not be able to handle it

[Flagg]

Do you think even advance life forms could exists?

I would love to see a complex life form, even if it was just something like the equivalent of a small mammal or a flying creature. I just want to see what evolution has done with the life that exists on other worlds, it would be incredible to see.

As far as advanced go, like us....it would be interesting to see if something that has the power of technology would be another super evolved mammal/primate, in our case, or something belonging to a different Class all together like a reptile or fish. For all we know, there could be completely unique Classes on other worlds that can exist simply because of the environments permitted.

Two things ive always wanted to see, but know I never will, is a prehistoric dinosaur and a complex life form on another planet.

@Knockout, I consider the fans of people like Kardashian and Bieber to not be too much more involved than zoo plankton.

[marcus300]

I would love to see a complex life form, even if it was just something like the equivalent of a small mammal or a flying creature. I just want to see what evolution has done with the life that exists on other worlds, it would be incredible to see.

As far as advanced go, like us....it would be interesting to see if something that has the power of technology would be another super evolved mammal/primate, in our case, or something belonging to a different Class all together like a reptile or fish. For all we know, there could be completely unique Classes on other worlds that can exist simply because of the environments permitted.

Two things ive always wanted to see, but know I never will, is a prehistoric dinosaur and a complex life form on another planet.

@Knockout, I consider the fans of people like Kardashian and Bieber to not be too much more involved than zoo plankton.

Do you think in our life time we will see anything like the above?

[Hazard]

I would love to see a complex life form, even if it was just something like the equivalent of a small mammal or a flying creature. I just want to see what evolution has done with the life that exists on other worlds, it would be incredible to see.

As far as advanced go, like us....it would be interesting to see if something that has the power of technology would be another super evolved mammal/primate, in our case, or something belonging to a different Class all together like a reptile or fish. For all we know, there could be completely unique Classes on other worlds that can exist simply because of the environments permitted.

Two things ive always wanted to see, but know I never will, is a prehistoric dinosaur and a complex life form on another planet.

@Knockout, I consider the fans of people like Kardashian and Bieber to not be too much more involved than zoo plankton.

Yesssss! The evolutionary process would be so different from earths. I don't believe anything would look the same.

I even read about robots and machinery being the dominant "life form"..... Its a radical idea but that's what these people do all day..... Just think about this shit. They were saying that technology could have taken over a planet much like how it helps us run ours now. We keep developing it and trying to make it more and more like humans. What happens if we develop something that can think for itself? Then it wipes us out..... And now IT runs the planet.

What if explorers from another planet find the technology to make it to earth and they find a beautiful planet inhabited by robots.

Crazy ideas..... More fun to think about than anything.

~Haz~

[Hazard]

Do you think in our life time we will see anything like the above?

I believe we will find some form of life within my lifetime. How complex it would be is beyond me. I'd love to see some form of animal life but if animals live on another planet - there sure as hell could be something as complex as humans or possibly even more developed and skilled.

~Haz~

[marcus300]

Yesssss! The evolutionary process would be so different from earths. I don't believe anything would look the same.

I even read about robots and machinery being the dominant "life form"..... Its a radical idea but that's what these people do all day..... Just think about this shit. They were saying that technology could have taken over a planet much like how it helps us run ours now. We keep developing it and trying to make it more and more like humans. What happens if we develop something that can think for itself? Then it wipes us out..... And now IT runs the planet.

What if explorers from another planet find the technology to make it to earth and they find a beautiful planet inhabited by robots.

Crazy ideas..... More fun to think about than anything.

~Haz~

That would make a great film

[Hazard]

That would make a great film

See if you can search for Steven Hawkings programs on the science channel. He explained how life would be different due to evolutionary differences. I can't remember the name of the episode but you may be able to find it. If you like this kind of stuff - you'll find it very interesting.

~Haz~

[warmouth]

Marcus, great thread! I never would have taken you for a space nerd, lol. Ibam loving these posts.

[marcus300]

See if you can search for Steven Hawkings programs on the science channel. He explained how life would be different due to evolutionary differences. I can't remember the name of the episode but you may be able to find it. If you like this kind of stuff - you'll find it very interesting.

~Haz~

I will try and find it, thanks

[marcus300]

See if you can search for Steven Hawkings programs on the science channel. He explained how life would be different due to evolutionary differences. I can't remember the name of the episode but you may be able to find it. If you like this kind of stuff - you'll find it very interesting.

~Haz~

I will try and find it, thanks

[marcus300]

Marcus, great thread! I never would have taken you for a space nerd, lol. Ibam loving these posts.

When I come across them and start thinking about the bigger picture it fascinates me to think what if we did find life somewhere else and what would happen when we made contact. I also like exploring Flagg's brain when these topics comes up because he is one wise fuker on this subject

[ghettoboyd]

so do none of you think we where already visited by aliens and helped if not actually built all the great pyramids of the world? shit ive been to chichaniza in mexico and climbed the pyramid there and theres no way peeps from thousands of years ago could cut and move stones that weighed 1000"s of pounds..not to mention the knowledge to line them up with the constellations in space...that fact alone leads me to believe we where visited and will be again...just for giggles look up what the term divine intervention means...

[marcus300]

so do none of you think we where already visited by aliens and helped if not actually built all the great pyramids of the world? shit ive been to chichaniza in mexico and climbed the pyramid there and theres no way peeps from thousands of years ago could cut and move stones that weighed 1000"s of pounds..not to mention the knowledge to line them up with the constellations in space...that fact alone leads me to believe we where visited and will be again...just for giggles look up what the term divine intervention means...

Do you really think that? don't you think humans were capable of doing this thousands of years ago?

[Flagg]

Do you think in our life time we will see anything like the above?

If telescopes get to the point where we could see the surface of another planet, then maybe? But we'd have to do a shit load of searching out there. I mean take our planet, if you could 'rewind' time and let Evolution play out from the start, life would have developed in a completely different fashion to what we have now, just because of how Evolution works. I think we already have a lot of diverse life on earth and I think we can see how a lot of niches are exploited and would likely be the same on other planets, else where in the universe. For instance, take an Australian Echidna, an African Aardvark, South American Ant eater, a South Asian Pangolin and an Australian Numbat. All of them live on different continents, except for two, are all different species, but they all occupy the same niche in their respective environments. Life could look very different elsewhere, but it would likely be doing the same similar thing, that is already happening here.

I think Space Exploration is a good thing, if only cause it would be useful for extending our reliance on natural resources.

[ghettoboyd]

Do you really think that? don't you think humans were capable of doing this thousands of years ago?

I don't bro but what do I know really...it just seem like it would have taken thousands more years to build such things with hand tools...

[Flagg]

Fish that live at the North and South poles both possess a type of antifreeze in their blood, glycoproteins, that prevent them from freezing in such cold conditions. However both developed this trait long after they diverted from one another. Research has also shown that the genes that produced this in both species are quite different to each other, but ultimately, they both produced the same functional result.

This may sound crazy but I think they already know and have found life on other planets. They just know the general public (religious people) would not be able to handle it

It wouldnt surprise me, but I think religion is becoming more of an outdated concept now. Once the older generations have passed it will become less and less important to us.

[LGM]

I wonder what the relative level of gravity would be on such a planet; that might be the biggest barrier to us being able to live on such a large planet. Great article.

[marcus300]

If telescopes get to the point where we could see the surface of another planet, then maybe? But we'd have to do a shit load of searching out there. I mean take our planet, if you could 'rewind' time and let Evolution play out from the start, life would have developed in a completely different fashion to what we have now, just because of how Evolution works. I think we already have a lot of diverse life on earth and I think we can see how a lot of niches are exploited and would likely be the same on other planets, else where in the universe. For instance, take an Australian Echidna, an African Aardvark, South American Ant eater, a South Asian Pangolin and an Australian Numbat. All of them live on different continents, except for two, are all different species, but they all occupy the same niche in their respective environments. Life could look very different elsewhere, but it would likely be doing the same similar thing, that is already happening here.

I think Space Exploration is a good thing, if only cause it would be useful for extending our reliance on natural resources.

Question for you Flagg,

How did live start on this planet and explain the evolution process to modern day!

[marcus300]

I don't bro but what do I know really...it just seem like it would have taken thousands more years to build such things with hand tools...

Yes it makes you wonder and think, how the fuk did they do that

[ghettoboyd]

im curious marcus do you not believe we where visited before...just look at how far technology has come in the 60 years since the Roswell incident do you not believe we may have reverse engineered some of there technology and that's why we are where we are today...im not a conspiracy theory guy but I am intreaged and listen to both sides of things of this nature...

[Flagg]

Yesssss! The evolutionary process would be so different from earths. I don't believe anything would look the same.

I even read about robots and machinery being the dominant "life form"..... Its a radical idea but that's what these people do all day..... Just think about this shit. They were saying that technology could have taken over a planet much like how it helps us run ours now. We keep developing it and trying to make it more and more like humans. What happens if we develop something that can think for itself? Then it wipes us out..... And now IT runs the planet.

What if explorers from another planet find the technology to make it to earth and they find a beautiful planet inhabited by robots.

Crazy ideas..... More fun to think about than anything.

~Haz~

AI is the one thing that could replace humans on this planet indefinitely. While this might steer from another tangent, I think AI kinda proves that faster than light is still not possible. Surely, somewhere out there, there is a civilisation out there that is completely machine based, evolving at impossibly fast rates, but why havent we been visited by anything like this, that would obviously have complete mastery over technological perfection?

[BUTTERYGOODNESS]

AI is the one thing that could replace humans on this planet indefinitely. While this might steer from another tangent, I think AI kinda proves that faster than light is still not possible. Surely, somewhere out there, there is a civilisation out there that is completely machine based, evolving at impossibly fast rates, but why havent we been visited by anything like this, that would obviously have complete mastery over technological perfection?

That's what I thought. If a self sustaining ai existed there would be no doubt they would be so far ahead of us that they would have already found us and attempted to colonize us.

[ghettoboyd]

That's what I thought. If a self sustaining ai existed there would be no doubt they would be so far ahead of us that they would have already found us and attempted to colonize us.

how do you know they didn't...they still haven't found the missing link between Neanderthals and modern day humans...maybe if it wasn't for them we would have never evolved...

[Flagg]

Question for you Flagg,

How did live start on this planet and explain the evolution process to modern day!

Dammmmn, I have a couple of theories on this, but it is just theory! One is that life on this planet started because a asteroid or meteorite that have microscopic life on it crashed into earth, and began thriving. But then that begs the question, what dead planet did that come from, and how did life start there.

I once read that under certain conditions such as insane pressure and heat, chain reactions can occur that can change the atomic structure of stuff which is how a single celled amoeba first begun. This is quite controversial but there was once a famous experiment done in the 1950's where Scientists tried to replicate this with some results. I'll try and find the experiment...

[BUTTERYGOODNESS]

how do you know they didn't...they still haven't found the missing link between Neanderthals and modern day humans...maybe if it wasn't for them we would have never evolved...

Oh I see!! That reminds me of a disscussion we had in philosophy. The 'evil genius' premise. Where we are being controlled but some greater exterior power/being/tech and we have no realization of it as we are 'puppets'

[ac guy]

Should we assume that other lifeforms need water and oxygen to exist?

[marcus300]

Dammmmn, I have a couple of theories on this, but it is just theory! One is that life on this planet started because a asteroid or meteorite that have microscopic life on it crashed into earth, and began thriving. But then that begs the question, what dead planet did that come from, and how did life start there.

I once read that under certain conditions such as insane pressure and heat, chain reactions can occur that can change the atomic structure of stuff which is how a single celled amoeba first begun. This is quite controversial but there was once a famous experiment done in the 1950's where Scientists tried to replicate this with some results. I'll try and find the experiment...

Yes please try and elaborate on this subject please Flagg for me.

[Flagg]

Should we assume that other lifeforms need water and oxygen to exist?

Water and oxygen, probably. Sunlight is not always needed though.

Here guys is what I was referring to earlier:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miller%...rey_experiment

In 1952 an experiment was conducted to test the hypothesis that life on earth began as a result of a series of chemical reactions. The experiment ended that they managed to create amino acids, seemingly from scratch (with the right ingredients of course).

The experiment used water (H2O), methane (CH4), ammonia (NH3), and hydrogen (H2). The chemicals were all sealed inside a sterile array of glass tubes and flasks connected in a loop, with one flask half-full of liquid water and another flask containing a pair of electrodes. The liquid water was heated to induce evaporation, sparks were fired between the electrodes to simulate lightning through the atmosphere and water vapor, and then the atmosphere was cooled again so that the water could condense and trickle back into the first flask in a continuous cycle.

Within a day, the mixture had turned pink in colour,[9] and at the end of two weeks of continuous operation, Miller and Urey observed that as much as 10–15% of the carbon within the system was now in the form of organic compounds. Two percent of the carbon had formed amino acids that are used to make proteins in living cells, with glycine as the most abundant. Sugars were also formed.[10] Nucleic acids were not formed within the reaction. 18% of the methane-molecules become bio-molecules. The rest turns into hydrocarbons like bitumen.

In an interview, Stanley Miller stated: "Just turning on the spark in a basic pre-biotic experiment will yield 11 out of 20 amino acids."[11]

As observed in all subsequent experiments, both left-handed (L) and right-handed (D) optical isomers were created in a racemic mixture. In biological systems, most of the compounds are non-racemic, or homochiral.

The original experiment remains today under the care of Miller and Urey's former student Jeffrey Bada, a professor at UCSD, at the University of California, San Diego, Scripps Institution of Oceanography.[12] The apparatus used to conduct the experiment is on display at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science.

The article states that in 2007, more amino acids had been found to have formed, more than Miller himself had predicted.