Australian Sky & Telescope — January 01, 2018

http://www.skyandtelescope.com.au 9

PLEIADES GRAPHS: T. WHITE ET AL. /

MONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY

2017; EXOPLANETS: ESO / M. KORNMESSER

Heavy metals in hot Jupiter atmosphere

RESEARCHERS HAVE found strong evidence of titanium

oxide (TiO) in the atmosphere of hot Jupiter WASP-19b — a

Jupiter-mass planet with a surface temperature of 2000K that

orbits its host star in only 19 hours.

Just as ozone absorbs solar radiation in Earth’s atmosphere,

producing an inversion layer within which temperature

increases with altitude, titanium oxide may play the same

role in the exotic atmospheres of hot Jupiters. But while many

astronomers suspect TiO’s presence, actually detecting this

molecule has proven difficult.

As WASP-19b transited across the face of its star, Elyar

Sedaghati (European Southern Observatory) and colleagues

employed ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) to capture

the star’s light as it passed through a sliver of the planet’s

atmosphere, which absorbs certain wavelengths depending on

its chemical makeup. Analysing the light captured by the VLT,

the astronomers found strong evidence for the presence of

titanium oxide in the atmosphere, accompanied by water and

sodium, as well as a thick, light-scattering haze. The results

were published in the September 14th issue of Nature.

■ JAVIER BARBUZANO

Artist’s impression of exoplanet WASP-19b

Year radio survey begins observations

e iconic antennae of the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array

A) have started scanning the sky as part of a new survey

t promises the most complete map of radio-emitting celestial

urces ever made. The VLA Sky Survey (VLASS) will require seven

rs of constant operation (a total of 5,500 observation hours)

cover 80% of the Earth’s sky from its location in New Mexico’s

desert. It will scan the sky three times, each scan separated by

out 32 months, which will enable astronomers to watch sources

olve, as well as to look for short-lived events. Data will be made

publicly available as soon as they’re acquired. Astronomers expect

that the survey will find around 10 million new objects — four times

re than currently known — including new supernovae, neutron

r collisions, and supermassive black holes.

JAVIER BARBUZANO

Hawai‘i approves mega-telescope

A panel has cleared the way for the construction of the Thirty Meter

Telescope (TMT) atop Mauna Kea, Hawai‘i. The Board of Land

and Natural Resources announced its decision in September, after

nearly five months of public hearings. An earlier ruling had also

approved the $1.4 billion project, but it was a controversial decision

among indigenous Hawaiians, who consider the mountain sacred.

Construction ground to a halt in 2015 after protests blocked

access to the summit. The recent ruling specified 43 conditions,

including environmental protection standards and an agreement to

decommission and remove several existing telescopes.

■ J. KELLY BEATTY

First official Pluto feature names

The International Astronomical Union has officially named 14

features on Pluto’s surface, which were captured in high resolution

during the New Horizons flyby. The names follow four themes:

pioneering space missions, explorers who crossed new frontiers,

scientists and engineers who contributed to our knowledge of Pluto

and the Kuiper Belt, and underworld mythology. The names are:

Tombaugh Regio, Burney Crater, Sputnik Planitia, Tenzing Montes,

Hillary Montes, Al-Idrisi Montes, Djanggawul Fossae, Sleipnir

Fossa, Virgil Fossae, Adlivun Cavus, Hayabusa Terra, Voyager Terra,

Tartarus Dorsa, and Elliot crater.

■ JAVIER BARBUZANO

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