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posted by Fnord666 on Wednesday April 25 2018, @07:11PM   Printer-friendly
from the still-easy-to-detect dept.

WASP-104b is Darker than Charcoal

By analysing the K2 short-cadence data from Campaign 14 we detect phase-curve modulation in the light curve of the hot-Jupiter host star WASP-104. The ellipsoidal modulation is detected with high significance and in agreement with theoretical expectations, while Doppler beaming and reflection modulations are detected tentatively. We show that the visual geometric albedo is lower than 0.03 at 95% confidence, making it one of the least-reflective planets found to date. The light curve also exhibits a rotational modulation, implying a stellar rotational period likely to be near 23 or 46 days. In addition, we refine the system parameters and place tight upper limits for transit timing and duration variations, starspot occultation events, and additional transiting planets.

WASP-104b's albedo was previously thought to be 0.4 (absorbing 60% of incoming light).

Also at ScienceAlert.

Related: NASA Finds a Pitch-Black Hot Jupiter Exoplanet (WASP-12b)


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  • (Score: 2) by Freeman on Thursday April 26 2018, @02:59PM (10 children)

    by Freeman (732) on Thursday April 26 2018, @02:59PM (#672169) Journal

    God's plan was for us to live in a perfect world. There is no freedom, if there is no freedom of choice. God gave us the ability to choose for ourselves. Love forced isn't Love. God created Adam, Eve, and Lucifer. You have the ability to choose your own path and do what you will, because God believes in Free Will.

    --
    Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
    Starting Score:    1  point
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  

    Total Score:   2  
  • (Score: 2) by bob_super on Thursday April 26 2018, @04:16PM (2 children)

    by bob_super (1357) on Thursday April 26 2018, @04:16PM (#672194)

    Once again calling for a new mod for "fairy-tale-based argument".

    Since that's a bit long, how about the "-1 Trumping" ?

    • (Score: 2) by Freeman on Thursday April 26 2018, @04:31PM (1 child)

      by Freeman (732) on Thursday April 26 2018, @04:31PM (#672199) Journal

      I was originally conscientiously pointing out that your statement didn't apply to Christians. You don't want to talk about religion. That's just fine. Then stop deriding the people who believe in it. All manner of inappropriate tags can be placed on quite a few topics. In reality the entire string of comments along with half of your post was off-topic in relation to the original article.

      --
      Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
      • (Score: 2) by bob_super on Thursday April 26 2018, @04:53PM

        by bob_super (1357) on Thursday April 26 2018, @04:53PM (#672206)

        > pointing out that your statement didn't apply to Christians

        Tell that to a lot of "Christians" who have a very different opinion than you.
        I've talked to enough Evangelists to respectfully disagree.

        But hey, the Universe IS full of wonderful things.

  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Azuma Hazuki on Thursday April 26 2018, @07:17PM (6 children)

    by Azuma Hazuki (5086) on Thursday April 26 2018, @07:17PM (#672274) Journal

    Do you even think about these things before you type them, or are you just running your finger down the Big Book of Apologetic Thought-Terminating Cliches and selecting one that looks vaguely like it fits the situation at hand, while completely ignoring what the other person is actually saying?

    You mention Free Will (TM). And this has to be a very specific, unfettered, libertarian sort of Free Will (TM) for your theology not to immediately crumble. Prove to us that a) we have Free Will (TM) at all, b) it is this specific sort of Free Will (TM), and c) why it would not have been possible to make a perfectly free set of beings with only good choices to choose from?

    Be very careful with c), as the standard apologetic response to this neatly explodes the concept of Heaven entirely and does significant damage to Yahweh himself :)

    --
    I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
    • (Score: 1, Offtopic) by Freeman on Thursday April 26 2018, @07:41PM (5 children)

      by Freeman (732) on Thursday April 26 2018, @07:41PM (#672286) Journal

      "4. But since He created Lucifer, isn’t God really responsible for his sin?
      Answer: Not at all. God created Lucifer a perfect, sinless angel. Lucifer made a devil of himself. Freedom to choose is a cornerstone principle of God’s government. God knew Lucifer would sin when He created him. If at that point God had refused to create Lucifer, He would have been repudiating one of His own characteristics of love; that is, the freedom to choose."
      https://www.amazingfacts.org/media-library/study-guide/e/4979/t/did-god-create-the-devil- [amazingfacts.org]

      Which is more or less what I already said. You can rage at the world all you want or me for the "evil God" that I believe and serve. The truth is that Satan has been spinning the "God is evil" lie for a long, long time. There are numerous occasions where God killed or asked His people to kill. The fact is that the wages of sin is death.

      "Regarding the command to eradicate entire nations, I believe that God had to because the influence of these nations left unchecked would ultimately lead to the death of many more innocent people. It’s helpful to keep in mind that nations like the Canaanites engaged in human sacrifice, even offering their children to devil gods. (See Deuteronomy 12:31.) Additionally, not only did God use Israel’s might to punish evil nations like these, He used the Babylonian, Assyrian, and Egyptian kings to punish Israel. God will often use human forces to mete out His discipline."
      https://www.amazingfacts.org/news-and-features/news/item/id/10883/t/why-did-god-order-genocide [amazingfacts.org]

      --
      Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
      • (Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Thursday April 26 2018, @08:20PM (4 children)

        by Azuma Hazuki (5086) on Thursday April 26 2018, @08:20PM (#672301) Journal

        I notice that at no time in that extended exercise in al-dente copypasta-boiling did you ever even attempt to engage with what was actually being said to you. Which, I find, is typical for apologists. You're wasting space and electrons.

        --
        I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
        • (Score: 2) by Freeman on Thursday April 26 2018, @08:36PM (3 children)

          by Freeman (732) on Thursday April 26 2018, @08:36PM (#672306) Journal

          Al-dente copy-pasta is good copy-pasta. Both were more or less direct replies to what you were asking about. You don't have to accept the argument I put forth. Do you not believe in Free Will?

          --
          Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
          • (Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Thursday April 26 2018, @09:38PM (2 children)

            by Azuma Hazuki (5086) on Thursday April 26 2018, @09:38PM (#672334) Journal

            First of all, no, neither of those were even close to direct replies. They were of the following form:

            (Freeman) I believe X Y and Z
            (Hazuki) Look, X Y and Z don't work because X and Y are mutually contradictory and Z is disproven due to A and B
            (Freeman) *states X Y and Z again with some links*

            What I believe is irrelevant. You must believe in a very specific, libertarian type of free will for your theology even to have a single toehold (it self-destructs elsewhere, but let's not get into that). That idea is incompatible with not only your theology but, I suspect, with some of the more recent discoveries in QM, which may be one reason so many scientists are compatibilists.

            Are you going to actually read what the fuck i said up there, or are you just going to sit here constantly asserting the same things and wondering why I'm not falling on my face in religious awe?

            --
            I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
            • (Score: 2) by Freeman on Thursday April 26 2018, @10:14PM (1 child)

              by Freeman (732) on Thursday April 26 2018, @10:14PM (#672351) Journal

              How many Angels can dance on the head of a pin? / Prove the existence of Free Will.

              What you believe is relevant, if you're actually trying to have a conversation. Otherwise, you're just tossing wood on the fire.

              Here's a definition, if you need to know what "Free Will" is referring to. http://www.dictionary.com/browse/free-will [dictionary.com]

              Without it, there can be no meaning to your "choices", and you can't be held accountable for your actions. Since, you had no choice. The idea that we don't have Free Will is akin to the practice of indulgences. Except, you don't have to pay someone to feel better.

              --
              Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
              • (Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Friday April 27 2018, @03:09AM

                by Azuma Hazuki (5086) on Friday April 27 2018, @03:09AM (#672448) Journal

                Why does talking logic with you feel like trying to explain mountaineering to an oyster? You're so deep in Dunning-Krugerland you can't even see where my objections are coming from or why they're being made.

                Go back up to that post where I was asking you why an omniscient etc etc etc God needs a plan, and read those words carefully. The supposed attributes of your God-figure make this plan a transparent sham. Make sure you understand the implications of omniscience (as opposed to just knowing a hell of a lot), omnipotence (as opposed to just being really strong) and especially absolute sovereignty (as opposed to just "being in charge") before you respond again.

                Not for nothing is it said that unbelievers take Yahweh much more seriously than his partisans. That is why we tend to be unbelievers in the first place...

                --
                I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...