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Science record
as star watchers find 'planet sodium'
Astronomers
have for the first time detected the chemical composition of the
atmosphere of a planet orbiting a distant star.
They believe
it is an important step in the search for extraterrestrial life.
Scientists focused
the Hubble Space Telescope on a star 150 light-years away and found
that a planet there contained sodium in its atmosphere.
Experts say
the achievement demonstrates that it might be possible to search
for the chemical signature of life on planets beyond the solar system.
"Suddenly,
discussing searches for Earth-like planets seems quite reasonable,"
said David Charbonneau, an astronomer at the California Institute
of Technology.
"This opens
up an exciting new phase of extrasolar planet exploration, where
we can begin to compare and contrast the atmospheres of planets
around other stars."
The planet orbits
a sun-like star called HD 209458 in the constellation Pegasus, some
150 light-years from Earth.
A light-year
is the distance light travels in a year, or about 6 trillion miles.
The planet is one of 76 that have been found in orbit of distant
stars, but it is the first to have its atmosphere chemically analysed.
The planet is
about 70% the size of Jupiter, the largest planet in the sun's family,
but it orbits just four million miles from its parent star.
As a result,
the planet whips around the star every 3.5 days. In contrast, the
Earth is about 93 million miles from the sun and takes a year to
complete one orbit.
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