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A planet that heats its sun?
Rogue Trader
Somebody stop him...
in Zocalo v2.0
ATLANTA (AP) -- Stars usually heat up their family of planets, but in an amazing reversal, an astronomer has found a planet that is actually heating up its sun.
Canadian astronomers reported this week that their study of a large planet orbiting a star 90 light-years away shows that the magnetic field of the planet is producing hot spots on its parent sun, a reversal of the effect the sun has on planets such as the Earth.
The planet is one of 119 known extra-solar planets, objects that orbit stars other than the sun. The star, called HD179949, is very like the sun. The planet is a gas giant 270 times larger than the Earth, almost as big as Jupiter, the largest planet in the solar system. It circles very close to its parent star, completing one orbit every 3.09 days and moving at 350,000 miles per hour (563,000 kph).
Evgenya Shkolnik of the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, reported Wednesday at a national meeting of the American Astronomical Society that she and other astronomers have discovered that as the planet orbits its star, it causes a hot spot within the outer gaseous layer.
"The hotspot moves across the surface of the star keeping pace with the planet, but just a little bit ahead," Shkolnik said. She said measurements of more than 100 orbits showed that the hot spot on the face of the star exactly matches the motion of the planet.
Shkolnik said the hot spot is caused by the planet's powerful magnetic field which transfers energy to hot gaseous just above the star's shining photosphere. The energy creates visible bright patches that can be detected by telescope instruments analyzing some types of ultraviolet light.
"This is the first time we have detected a magnetic field outside of the solar system," said Shkolnik.
The Earth has a powerful magnetic field that helps protect the planet from particles streaming from the sun. The magnetic field is created by the motion of liquid iron and nickel surrounding the Earth's core.
Shkolnik said the magnetic field of the extrasolar planet suggests that it too has a core structure that produces an energy force.
Magnetic energy from the extrasolar planet adds about 750 degrees F (400 C) to the 14,000 degrees F (7,760 C) of the star's outer gaseous layer, said Shkolnik. The planet itself roasts at about 2,700 degrees F (1,500 C).
got from cnn.com
Canadian astronomers reported this week that their study of a large planet orbiting a star 90 light-years away shows that the magnetic field of the planet is producing hot spots on its parent sun, a reversal of the effect the sun has on planets such as the Earth.
The planet is one of 119 known extra-solar planets, objects that orbit stars other than the sun. The star, called HD179949, is very like the sun. The planet is a gas giant 270 times larger than the Earth, almost as big as Jupiter, the largest planet in the solar system. It circles very close to its parent star, completing one orbit every 3.09 days and moving at 350,000 miles per hour (563,000 kph).
Evgenya Shkolnik of the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, reported Wednesday at a national meeting of the American Astronomical Society that she and other astronomers have discovered that as the planet orbits its star, it causes a hot spot within the outer gaseous layer.
"The hotspot moves across the surface of the star keeping pace with the planet, but just a little bit ahead," Shkolnik said. She said measurements of more than 100 orbits showed that the hot spot on the face of the star exactly matches the motion of the planet.
Shkolnik said the hot spot is caused by the planet's powerful magnetic field which transfers energy to hot gaseous just above the star's shining photosphere. The energy creates visible bright patches that can be detected by telescope instruments analyzing some types of ultraviolet light.
"This is the first time we have detected a magnetic field outside of the solar system," said Shkolnik.
The Earth has a powerful magnetic field that helps protect the planet from particles streaming from the sun. The magnetic field is created by the motion of liquid iron and nickel surrounding the Earth's core.
Shkolnik said the magnetic field of the extrasolar planet suggests that it too has a core structure that produces an energy force.
Magnetic energy from the extrasolar planet adds about 750 degrees F (400 C) to the 14,000 degrees F (7,760 C) of the star's outer gaseous layer, said Shkolnik. The planet itself roasts at about 2,700 degrees F (1,500 C).
got from cnn.com
Comments
Jupiter has also very large and powerfull magnetic field, it's like giant particle accelerator and some particles are travelling almost at speed of light. (and when that velocity is converted to temperature it matches around 100 million Kelvin if I remember right)
And sunspots are caused by sun's own magnetic field when it gets tangled up and prevents flow of hotter material to surface and that area of surface cools few thousand Kelvins cooler that it's surrounding area. (temperature only around 3000 Kelvin)
When those knots in magnetic field break they cause flares.
[url]http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2003/12nov_haywire.htm[/url]
[url]http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/xtreme_flare_031105.html[/url]
But let's wait for other flare like this:
[url]http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/mystery_monday_031027.html[/url]
[i]During the 1859 flare-up, solar observers logged almost an entire minute during which the amount of sunlight doubled at the region of the flare.[/i]
So I guess when magnetic field of giant planet comes along to game it could cause opposite effect. Cause that in some areas hotter material would flow much more faster to surface.