Astronomers measure glow of alien planets for the first time

Astronomers have for the first time measured the reflected light of planets outside our solar system, a breakthrough that could advance the search for habitable worlds in deep space.

Two teams of researchers announced their findings Tuesday on two Jupiter-size planets 153 and 489 light-years from Earth.

The planets, designated HD 209458b and TrES-1, are in the constellations Pegasus and Lyra. They are closer to their stars than Mercury is to the sun, making them too hot to support life.

The findings, made with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Spitzer Space Telescope, are the first direct observations of alien worlds.

“I feel we’ve been blind and have just been given sight,” said Sara Seager of the Carnegie Institution, a member of one of the research teams.

The new breakthrough involves measuring the loss of heat and light when an orbiting planet disappears behind its star. By this means, the teams were able to calculate that the planets are being baked at temperatures up to 1,574 degrees Fahrenheit.