X-ray grating spectra of post-novae and other non-nova supersoft X-ray sources fall into two classes: in some systems we observe X-ray emission in a wind, or diffuse circumstellar material; in others we detect the white dwarf atmosphere.
It said in a statement: "Cosac was able to 'sniff' the atmosphere and detect the first organic molecules after landing.
This is a form of radar that can measure deviations in ground elevation with millimetre-scale accuracy.Envisat also has sensors that, by recognising the characteristic optical signature of various substances in the atmosphere, can detect the presence of specific gases, such as sulphur dioxide.
"We want to see if we can detect the signature of Venus' atmosphere spectroscopically from sunlight reflecting off the moon, as if it was a reading coming from a faraway star," Dr. Schneider said.
The objective of India's latest mission is not to land on Mars — with NASA's rover missions there that would be redundant — but to place a satellite in an elliptical orbit around the planet in order to identify the geological source of the methane that has been detected in the atmosphere.
There are other absorbers of incident sunlight at λ < 600 nm and some of these have been detected in the atmosphere of Venus (e.g., CS2).
Titanium oxide detected in the atmosphere, the team guesses one of only a few compounds that can both absorb UV and exist as a gas without breaking up at such a high temperature. .
In 2001 sodium was detected in the atmosphere of HD 209458 b.
