{"id":18319,"date":"2019-03-27T07:00:46","date_gmt":"2019-03-27T11:00:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=18319"},"modified":"2019-03-26T20:53:03","modified_gmt":"2019-03-27T00:53:03","slug":"eso-optical-interferometry-reveals-details-of-the-atmosphere-of-an-exoplanet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=18319","title":{"rendered":"ESO: Optical interferometry reveals details of the atmosphere of an exoplanet"},"content":{"rendered":"

The latest report from ESO<\/a> (European Southern Observatory):<\/p>\n

GRAVITY instrument breaks new ground in exoplanet imaging<\/a>
\n<\/strong>Cutting-edge VLTI instrument reveals details of a storm-wracked exoplanet <\/em>
\nusing optical interferometry<\/em><\/p>\n

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The GRAVITY instrument on ESO\u2019s Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI) has made the first direct observation of an exoplanet using optical interferometry. This method revealed a complex exoplanetary atmosphere with clouds of iron and silicates swirling in a planet-wide storm. The technique presents unique possibilities for characterising many of the exoplanets known today. This artist\u2019s impression<\/a> shows the observed exoplanet, which goes by the name HR8799e. Credit: ESO\/L. Cal\u00e7ada<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The GRAVITY instrument on ESO\u2019s Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI) has made the first direct observation of an exoplanet using optical interferometry. This method revealed a complex exoplanetary atmosphere with clouds of iron and silicates swirling in a planet-wide storm. The technique presents unique possibilities for characterising many of the exoplanets known today.<\/p>\n

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Aerial view<\/a> of the observing platform on the top of Paranal mountain (from late 1999), with the four enclosures for the 8.2-m Unit Telescopes (UTs) and various installations for the VLT Interferometer (VLTI). Three 1.8-m VLTI Auxiliary Telescopes (ATs) and paths of the light beams have been superimposed on the photo. Also seen are some of the 30 “stations” where the ATs will be positioned for observations and from where the light beams from the telescopes can enter the Interferometric Tunnel below. The straight structures are supports for the rails on which the telescopes can move from one station to another. The Interferometric Laboratory (partly subterranean) is at the centre of the platform.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This result was announced today in a letter in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics<\/em> by the GRAVITY<\/a> Collaboration [1]<\/a>, in which they present observations of the exoplanet HR8799e<\/a> using optical interferometry. The exoplanet was discovered in 2010 orbiting the young main-sequence star HR8799<\/a>, which lies around 129 light-years from Earth in the constellation of Pegasus.<\/p>\n