I’ve just gotten a new gig as a space blogger for Wired News‘ blog: Wired Science.
My first post can be found here.
Occasionally I get to do longer articles that show up in the blog, like this one:
A team of astronomers has created the first map of an extrasolar planet, HD 189733b, located approximately 60 light-years from Earth.
By measuring brightness and other data collected over time by the Spitzer Space Telescope, the scientists constructed a map of the brightness of the planet’s surface. The telescope’s location in space combined with its infrared technology provided information about the planet’s hot and cold spots not possible with any imaging technology available today, the scientists said.
Spitzer’s technology could be used to map Earth-like planets — like the recently-discovered Gliese 581c — to determine information about their atmospheres, the scientists said.
