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Astronomers announced the detection of sodium in the atmosphere of the extrasolar planet HD 209458 b (artist's impression pictured), the first exoplanet atmosphere to be measured.
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Sodium
Chemical element with atomic number 11 (Na)
Sodium is a chemical element; it has symbol Na and atomic number 11. It is a soft, silvery-white, highly reactive metal. Sodium is an alkali metal, being in group 1 of the periodic table. Its only stable isotope is 23Na. The free metal does not occur in nature and must be…Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)
Exoplanet
Planet outside of the Solar System
An exoplanet or extrasolar planet is a planet outside of the Solar System. The first confirmed detection of an exoplanet was in 1992 around a pulsar, and the first detection around a main-sequence star was in 1995. A different planet, first detected in 1988, was confirmed in…Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)
HD 209458 b
Gas giant exoplanet orbiting HD 209458
HD 209458 b is an exoplanet, specifically a hot Jupiter, that orbits the solar analog HD 209458 in the constellation Pegasus, some 157 light-years from the Solar System. It is sometimes informally called Osiris. The radius of the planet's orbit is 0.047 AU, or one-eighth the…Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)
Extraterrestrial atmosphere
Area of astronomical research
The study of extraterrestrial atmospheres is an active field of research, both as an aspect of astronomy and to gain insight into Earth's atmosphere. In addition to Earth, many of the other astronomical objects in the Solar System have atmospheres. These include all the giant…Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)