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October 22, 2009
Vacation on Sunny HD 209458b: You Get Water Methane and CO2. You Also Get Flattened and a Crispy Sunburn
Bad News: NASA scientists have been able to decipher what chemicals HD 209458b's atmosphere contains even though it is 150 light years from Earth. This exoplanet is a very large gas giant which has a very tight orbit around the star (it is therefore dubbed a "Hot Jupiter"), so life isn't expected to be a possibility, but HD 209458b contains the basic organic chemicals as used, and produced, by life as we know it.
(via Space Disco : Discovery Space: Basic Chemistry for Life Detected on Exoplanet HD 209458b)
Posted by Vanderleun at October 22, 2009 8:02 AM. This is an entry on the sideblog of American Digest: Check it out.
Your Say
Gotta get the Goracle on the line. Seems this would-be planet is ripe for taxation. C02, Methane - this just won't do.
Posted by: Cathy at October 23, 2009 1:53 PM