spacetoday.net: space news from around the webin association with SpaceNews


Exoplanet found to be made of "hot ice"
Posted: Fri, May 18, 2007, 6:40 AM ET (1040 GMT)
Gliese 436 exoplanet illustration (NASA) Astronomers this week said that a previously-discovered extrasolar planet appears to be made of exotic forms of ice that can exist at high temperatures. Swiss astronomers studied the exoplanet, orbiting close to the star GJ 436 30 light-years away, as it transited across the star's disk as seen from Earth. Those observations allowed astronomers to estimate its size and, combined with previous measurements of its mass, the exoplanet's density. Astronomers found that the planet is too compact to be a gaseous "hot Jupiter", like many other exoplanets found near their parent stars, but not dense enough to be a rocky planet like the Earth. Instead, they suggest that the planet may have any icy composition, with an atmosphere of water vapor and other gases, but an interior that stays icy at high pressures, deposits temperatures of hundreds of degrees Celsius.
<<previous article   next article>>
news in brief
Second ispace lunar lander crashes
Posted: Sat, Jun 7 10:55 AM ET (1455 GMT)

Trump-Musk feud includes threats to SpaceX programs
Posted: Sat, Jun 7 10:50 AM ET (1450 GMT)


news links
Tuesday, June 17
U.S. Space & Rocket Center CEO on leave; CFO assumes duties
Huntsville Times — 12:26 am ET (0426 GMT)
Blue Origin schedules next human flight from West Texas
KTSM-TV El Paso — 12:25 am ET (0425 GMT)
Blue Origin Sets June 21 For 13th Crewed New Shepard Launch
Aviation Week — 12:25 am ET (0425 GMT)
Yes, that light show was from a SpaceX launch
Los Angeles Times — 12:24 am ET (0424 GMT)
Latest SpaceX launch from Vandenberg seen in Las Vegas sky
KSNV-TV Las Vegas — 12:23 am ET (0423 GMT)


about spacetoday.net   ·   info@spacetoday.net   ·   mailing list