The hottest planet

Of the over 200 known extrasolar planets, just 14 pass in front of and behind their parent stars as seen from Earth. This fortuitous geometry allows direct determination of many planetary properties. Previous reports of planetary thermal emission give fluxes that are roughly consistent with predictions based on thermal equilibrium with the planets' received radiation, assuming a Bond albedo of approximately 0.3. Here we report direct detection of thermal emission from the smallest known transiting planet, HD 149026b, that indicates a brightness temperature (an expression of flux) of 2,300 +/- 200 K at 8 microm. The planet's predicted temperature for uniform, spherical, blackbody emission and zero albedo (unprecedented for planets) is 1,741 K. As models with non-zero albedo are cooler, this essentially eliminates uniform blackbody models, and may also require an albedo lower than any measured for a planet, very strong 8 microm emission, strong temporal variability, or a heat source other than stellar radiation. On the other hand, an instantaneous re-emission blackbody model, in which each patch of surface area instantly re-emits all received light, matches the data. This planet is known to be enriched in heavy elements, which may give rise to novel atmospheric properties yet to be investigated.     

The Earth as a planet

A comparison of the Earth with the Moon and other planets can help considerably in the solving of geophysical problems. Professor Cook deals with some of these problems in this article, which is a summary of the inaugural lecture he gave as professor of geophysics at Edinburgh on January 15.     

Solutions for a cultivated planet

Increasing population and consumption are placing unprecedented demands on agriculture and natural resources. Today, approximately a billion people are chronically malnourished while our agricultural systems are concurrently degrading land, water, biodiversity and climate on a global scale. To meet the world's future food security and sustainability needs, food production must grow substantially while, at the same time, agriculture's environmental footprint must shrink dramatically. Here we analyse solutions to this dilemma, showing that tremendous progress could be made by halting agricultural expansion, closing 'yield gaps' on underperforming lands, increasing cropping efficiency, shifting diets and reducing waste. Together, these strategies could double food production while greatly reducing the environmental impacts of agriculture.     

机器人负载的动力学参数辨识

为解决机器人末端负载的时变性给高速运动的机器人带来控制精度降低的问题,研究了参数差值法、力矩求解法、全局参数辨识法的机器人末端负载动力学参数辨识的方法,以提高末端负载的辨识精度.得到的负载动力学参数用于动力学控制以提高机器人动态精度.通过建立拉格朗日动力学线性辨识模型,以最优激励轨迹进行实时数据采集,采样数据经过低通滤波及中心差分的处理后,代入相应的负载辨识方程式,并用加权最小二乘法解决线性方程组,可辨识到不同负载的动力学参数.实验验证了负载辨识方法的可行性.     

Infrared radiation from an extrasolar planet

A class of extrasolar giant planets--the so-called 'hot Jupiters' (ref. 1)--orbit within 0.05 au of their primary stars (1 au is the Sun-Earth distance). These planets should be hot and so emit detectable infrared radiation. The planet HD 209458b (refs 3, 4) is an ideal candidate for the detection and characterization of this infrared light because it is eclipsed by the star. This planet has an anomalously large radius (1.35 times that of Jupiter), which may be the result of ongoing tidal dissipation, but this explanation requires a non-zero orbital eccentricity (approximately 0.03; refs 6, 7), maintained by interaction with a hypothetical second planet. Here we report detection of infrared (24 microm) radiation from HD 209458b, by observing the decrement in flux during secondary eclipse, when the planet passes behind the star. The planet's 24-microm flux is 55 +/- 10 microJy (1sigma), with a brightness temperature of 1,130 +/- 150 K, confirming the predicted heating by stellar irradiation. The secondary eclipse occurs at the midpoint between transits of the planet in front of the star (to within +/- 7 min, 1sigma), which means that a dynamically significant orbital eccentricity is unlikely.     

A spectrum of an extrasolar planet

Of the over 200 known extrasolar planets, 14 exhibit transits in front of their parent stars as seen from Earth. Spectroscopic observations of the transiting planets can probe the physical conditions of their atmospheres. One such technique can be used to derive the planetary spectrum by subtracting the stellar spectrum measured during eclipse (planet hidden behind star) from the combined-light spectrum measured outside eclipse (star + planet). Although several attempts have been made from Earth-based observatories, no spectrum has yet been measured for any of the established extrasolar planets. Here we report a measurement of the infrared spectrum (7.5-13.2 microm) of the transiting extrasolar planet HD 209458b. Our observations reveal a hot thermal continuum for the planetary spectrum, with an approximately constant ratio to the stellar flux over this wavelength range. Superposed on this continuum is a broad emission peak centred near 9.65 microm that we attribute to emission by silicate clouds. We also find a narrow, unidentified emission feature at 7.78 microm. Models of these 'hot Jupiter' planets predict a flux peak near 10 microm, where thermal emission from the deep atmosphere emerges relatively unimpeded by water absorption, but models dominated by water fit the observed spectrum poorly.     

Venus as a more Earth-like planet

Venus is Earth's near twin in mass and radius, and our nearest planetary neighbour, yet conditions there are very different in many respects. Its atmosphere, mostly composed of carbon dioxide, has a surface temperature and pressure far higher than those of Earth. Only traces of water are found, although it is likely that there was much more present in the past, possibly forming Earth-like oceans. Here we discuss how the first year of observations by Venus Express brings into focus the evolutionary paths by which the climates of two similar planets diverged from common beginnings to such extremes. These include a CO2-driven greenhouse effect, erosion of the atmosphere by solar particles and radiation, surface-atmosphere interactions, and atmospheric circulation regimes defined by differing planetary rotation rates.     

面向有效载荷质量的平流层飞艇设计参数优化

最大有效载荷质量是衡量平流层飞艇设计方案优劣的重要指标,最大有效载荷质量与飞艇设计的许多因素相关联,为此建立平流层飞艇各性能指标估算模型,在此基础上,提出以飞艇最大有效载荷质量为优化目标,综合考虑浮重平衡、推阻平衡、能源平衡、材料强度等方面约束的平流层飞艇设计参数优化模型,并基于混沌粒子群算法进行实例计算.研究结果表明:设计平流层飞艇时以阻力最小、质量最轻等常见指标为优化目标不能反应飞艇适应任务的能力.此外,平流层飞艇的设计是一个各子系统紧密耦合、相互制约的求解过程,与基于经验值设计的参考方案相比,经过设计参数优化后的平流层飞艇最大有效载荷质量能增加50％.