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Hot Earths have atmospheres of rock

Hot rocky exoplanets may have atmospheres of vapourised rock, says Brian Jackson of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Centre, USA at the Exoclimes conference at the University of Exeter. He adds that these planets, which are likened to the planet Mercury, do not completely expose their rocky surface to the Sun thanks to the planet’s exosphere – the uppermost, thin layer of vaporised rocky material which is composed of elements from the surface of the exoplanet. It is these exospheres which provide clues to the planet’s composition.

An artist’s conception of CoRoT-7b. Image: ESO/L Calcada. “Exactly how you would go about searching for these atmospheres is by using the transit method,” says Jackson. The current detection biases lead to many of the currently known exoplanets being on very close orbits to their host stars. These exoplanets are therefore very hot. One exoplanet, CoRoT-7b, which was the first exoplanet to have its radius measured as slightly larger than our home planet, orbits a Sun-like star. “Rocky planets that orbit Sun-like stars get very hot, reaching temperatures of up to about 3000 Kelvin (2,730 degrees Celsius),” says Jackson. However, CoRoT-7b has left some scientists puzzled by the planet’s composition. “This planet could be made of solid material, but what type is unclear.”
“We are entering the era of hot rocky planets,” states Jackson, “and the majority of planets found that are rocky are going to be very hot, so it might be very hard for them to retain their atmosphere.” The heat from the host star of a rocky planet could possibly lead to a hot melted surface and therefore a deep magma ocean extending tens of kilometres down. “The exosphere can be quite dense, and if the surface is hot enough and if the rocky material is volatile enough you can produce an atmosphere that is comparable to Mars’ atmosphere, which is a few tens of a hundredths of a bar.”

‘Here You Have’ Virus Spreading Through Email

(THAINDIAN NEWS) In a new development that has sent shock waves in the IT industry a new email virus is spreading infection in numerous parts of the world. It has already affected thousands of computers all over the world and some of the large IT companies and MNC employees have been hit by the worm, as per the latest news. The affected people received a spam email flooding their in boxes which had the subject line titled “Here you have”. The companies that have been affected by the worm include Disney, Florida Department of Transportation, Wells Fargo, Proctor & Gamble, Comcast and NASA. Leading security company McAfee said in a statement that it is examining the worm attack and also admitted the fact that it has breached the computer security level in leading IT organizations in the world.
The virus affected a lot of common users worldwide and it was evident from the way the users were searching the web for information on it. The senders of the virus has given a link in the email which indicates that it has a PDF document attached to it. However, that is a trick to woo the innocent users. If anyone clicks on the link he will be taken to a malicious source. Once it gets installed in the system of a user it spreads fast.
McAfee has warned the users about the new virus in a statement published in the site and has added that both home and corporate users are vulnerable to it. McAfee has also said the worm has some variants and tracing all of them may require some time.

Superstar Rajinikanth's Second Daughter Soundarya Wedding News / Photos

On 2.9.2010 Superstar Rajinikanth’s second daughter Soundarya wedding mehandi function held at Egmore in the famous marriage halls of Raja Muthaiah and Rani Meyyammai.. Anuradha Sayeeram, the eminet Karnatic music vocalist concert was arranged for the above function. All invitees are asked to bring the invitation card for the function. Brief arrangements are made for car parking and car passes are enclosed in the wedding invitation card. Famous make up experts from Kolkata and Mumbai have been arranged for Superstar Rajinikanth’s second daughter Soundarya’s bridal make up. Superstar Rajinikanth arranged Arusuvai Arasu Natarajan for catering service for his second daughter Soundarya’s wedding.

Muhurtham time of Superstar Rajinikanth’s second daughter Soundarya is 7.30-9 a.m on 3.9.2010. Ashwin son of Ramkumar(builder in Chennai) will tie marriage knot with Superstar Rajinikanth’s second daughter Soundarya. Reception is arranged in the same place between 7-9 p.m. Famous film personalities and all Superstar’s friends will attend the wedding and bless the couple.