Day/Night temperature difference for a Hot Jupiter

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Astronomers have detected for the first time the difference in emitted light from the day side and night side of an exoplanet - upsilon Andromedae b. The result suggests that there is a strong temperature difference between the day and night sides which would mean that energy is not transported very efficiently from the day side to the night side. As I understand it, the results are consistent with model predictions for the Hot Jupiter atmospheres, which among other things predict that the planets are very dark in visual light, likely deep purple on the side facing the star and a deep magenta on the night side.<br /><br />The technical paper is at:<br />http://xxx.lanl.gov/abs/astro-ph/0610491 <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>
 
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Regarding the Upsilon Andromeda System<br />http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/afoe/upsAnd_pr.html<br />"The discovery of this multiple planet system suggests a new paradigm for planet formation where many small seed planets known as planetesimals might develop in the disk of matter surrounding a star. Those planets that grow fastest would engage in a gravitational tug of war that weeds out some of the smaller worlds and determines which planets ultimately remain in orbit. "The Upsilon Andromedae system suggests that gravitational interactions between Jupiter-mass planets can play a powerful role in sculpting solar systems," said Butler.<br />If these Jupiter-mass planets are like our own Jupiter, they would not be expected to have solid Earth-like surfaces. But, Nisenson noted, "our observations can't rule out Earth-sized planets as well in this planetary system, because their gravity would be too weak for them to be detectable with present instruments."<br /><br />Picture:<br />http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap990416.html<br /><br />News:<br />http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/NASA_Spitzer_Sees_Day_and_Night_On_Exotic_World_999.html<br />"Pasadena CA (SPX) Oct 13, 2006<br />NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has made the first measurements of the day and night temperatures of a planet outside our solar system. The infrared observatory revealed that the Jupiter-like gas giant planet circling very close to its sun is always as hot as fire on one side, and potentially as cold as ice on the other.<br />"This planet has a giant hot spot in the hemisphere that faces the star," said Dr. Joe Harrington of the University of Central Florida, Orlando, lead author of a paper appearing online today in Science. "The temperature differe
 
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