Comments on: Gl 581 — The Movie

By: graywyvern

graywyvern — Tue, 01 May 2007 18:40:58 +0000

taking a cue from the “one earth mass” hydrosphere, i calculate that the whole planet will be covered with an ocean around 622 miles deep (given a total 5.03 earth masses).

seems like this world would be rather oblate, with all that tidal force pulling on it.

love the simulation. i’m starting to think of this world as a place, now. i call it “Metaluna”.

By: Centauri Dreams » Blog Archive » Gerald Nordley: Doubts on Gliese 581 c

Tue, 01 May 2007 18:11:19 +0000

[...] Nordley’s thoughts come at a time when Greg Laughlin (UC-Santa Cruz) has pegged the odds on Gliese 581 c harboring “a clement surface or a temperate ocean-atmospheric interface” at a thousand to one against. Which is not to downplay the significance of the Gliese 581 c discovery, but only to point out that there is a wide gap between the actual facts we have on this planet and the speculation they have provoked. We can learn more through continuing observations — and we can’t rule out the possibility of a transit, which would help immensly. [...]

By: Astronomy Down Under - Down Under, Looking Up » Details on Gliese 581 C

Astronomy Down Under - Down Under, Looking Up » Details on Gliese 581 C — Tue, 01 May 2007 06:39:14 +0000

[...] Gliese 581 C – The Movie: details on assumptions and a simulation of a possible atmosphere [...]

By: Ninos

Ninos — Mon, 30 Apr 2007 19:15:38 +0000

As a novice, I want to understand how can a model of this planet’s atmosphere be created? What evidence do we have to fit into our models? Have we analyzed direct light reflecting off of this planet?

By: Eric F Diaz

Eric F Diaz — Mon, 30 Apr 2007 12:05:02 +0000

I for one enjoyed seeing this animation, regardless of how accurate it may be. It’s nice to see a visualization of something that was previously nothing but parameters, a part of a curve on a RV/JD chart and a reduced ChiÂ² value on my console. It makes it much more tangible and real for me.

By: greg

greg — Sun, 29 Apr 2007 02:51:45 +0000

The emission from GL 581 should peak right around the visible/IR boundary. In this particular hydro run, we’re envisioning the planet as having a significant cover of water clouds, which are providing the relatively high albedo for the planet.

By: jtwright

jtwright — Sun, 29 Apr 2007 00:19:42 +0000

I’m curious how you chose the Bond albedo for these simulations. Would’t a water-rich atmosphere be very dark in the infrared, where most of the radiation from GJ 581 is? What’s so reflective about this planet in the infrared?

By: Big News! An "Earth like" Exoplanet Is Out There. « DJ’ing, Music, Humour, Life

Sat, 28 Apr 2007 14:03:18 +0000

[...] A simulation of what the atmosphere might look like done by feeding in known values into an atmospheric simulator. [...]

By: andy

andy — Fri, 27 Apr 2007 10:28:57 +0000

Interesting animation there – doesn’t look much like the Earth’s pattern, though to make a fairer comparison it might be interesting to see what the model outputs for a planet with Earth’s mass and rotation.

I wonder what the flow pattern would look like on Gliese 581 d (which, judging by the scaled habitable zone from Earth system to Gliese 581, I’d say looks much more likely to have reasonable surface temperatures), with an eccentric orbit and (perhaps) 3:2 rotation.