How can we find tiny particles in exoplanet atmospheres?
Friday, August 29, 2014 - 07:30
in Physics & Chemistry
It may seem like magic, but astronomers have worked out a scheme that will allow them to detect and measure particles ten times smaller than the width of a human hair, even at many light-years distance. They can do this by observing a blue tint in the light from far-off objects caused by the way in which small particles, no more than a micron in size (one-thousandth of a millimeter) scatter light.