Mar 22 2005
From The Space Library
NASA announced that the Spitzer Space Telescope had captured the light from two known planets that are orbiting stars other than the Sun, enabling scientists to measure and compare extrasolar planets directly. This event marked the beginning of a new era in planetary science. Previously, scientists had confirmed the existence of extrasolar planets using one of two techniques of indirect discovery~ the “wobble” technique or the “transit” technique. The wobble technique detected the gravitational tug that a planet exerts on its parent star, and the transit technique inferred the presence of a planet when the planet passed in front of its star, causing the star to dim. Both techniques depended on visible-light telescopes. By contrast, Spitzer observed infrared light, enabling astronomers to contrast a planet against the glow of its parent star. If detected using the transit technique, the glow of the parent star would have overwhelmed the glimmer of light reflected by the planet. (NASA, “NASA's Spitzer Marks Beginning of New Age of Planetary Science,” news release 05-082, 22 March 2005, http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2005/mar/HQ_05082_Spitzer_First_Light.html (accessed 29 June 2009).)
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