uranologist have used the Hubble Space Telescope to follow a full lunar eclipse in ultraviolet light and from space for the first meter . The notice take place onJanuary 21 , 2019 , and the end was a peculiar one : To study Earth ’s ambiance in an indirect way to see what variety of chemicals can be detected in this mode .
When the Moon is whole in Earth ’s shadow , itappears red . This is because the ignitor of the Sun is filtered through our planet ’s atmosphere and reflected by the Moon . As report inThe Astronomical Journal , by study advantage of the full lunar occultation , Hubble was able to find the ozone present in Earth ’s air .
" recover ozone is significant because it is a photochemical by-product of molecular O , which is itself a byproduct of animation , " lead research worker Allison Youngblood of the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics in Boulder , Colorado , explained in astatement .
It might not seem super exciting that Hubble discovered a byproduct of life on Earth . After all , we have intercourse our planet is teeming with life . But this approach can be used to study planets outside the Solar System . When these exoplanets pass in front of their stars , the filtered light is influenced by the chemical report of the atm . Using Earth as a proxy , we might be able to identifyother world with similar atmosphere .
An exoplanet sporting ozone would be an interesting uncovering , but they can take shape in ways that do n’t ask life , so more chemicals than that place here will have to be observed before we could confirm the presence of life beyond the Solar System .
" One of NASA ’s major goal is to identify satellite that could back up life story , " Youngblood said . " But how would we be intimate a habitable or an uninhabited major planet if we image one ? What would they look like with the techniques that astronomer have at their disposal for characterizing the atmospheres of exoplanets ? That ’s why it ’s important to develop model of Earth ’s spectrum as a guide for categorizing atmospheres on extrasolar planet . "
canvas the atmospheres of dry land - size exoplanets remains beyond our current instruments as they are very small and their aura very thin . But it is important that we have sex what we should be look for , so future observatories can be built with that in mind .
That said , Hubble has been capable to read the atmosphere of large exoplanets , although they were not yet distinguish when it was launched . It ’s quite noteworthy and a true will of the many masses working on the telescope over the last three decades that this was reach .
