Travis Barman

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Travis Barman, is an astronomer at the Lowell Observatory in Arizona. While studying a combination of the previously published Hubble Space Telescope measurements and new theoretical models, Barman found strong evidence for water absorption in the atmosphere of HD 209458 b^[1]^[2] A planet about 150 light years away from earth; it was known previously that the planet contained an evaporating hydrogen atmosphere, along with oxygen and carbon. Though the planet is only 7 million kilometers away from the sun, the planet is not hot enought to break the water molecules. The planet HD209458b, a transiting planet, passes in front of its sun, where it can be viewed from earth every three-and-a-half days. When this happens, water vapor in the planet’s atmosphere causes the planet to appear slightly larger in the infrared part of the starlight than in the visible portion. Barman found the water signature after applying new theoretical models he developed to visible and infrared Hubble data collected by Harvard student Heather Knutson last year, which measured the perceived size of the planet over a broad range of wavelengths.