Now that we have access to space, the easiest way to prove the Earth is spherical is to leave it and view it from a distance. Astronauts and space probes have done just that. Every picture of Earth ever taken shows only a circular shape, and the only geometric solid which looks like a circle from any direction is a sphere.

University of Central Florida Astronomy professor Joseph Harrington and University of California at Los Angeles professor Brad M. Hansen and their team have made the first direct observation of distinct day and night temperatures on a planet orbiting another star.

Their published work appears in this week's Science Express, the online version of Science Magazine. The announcement was made today in Pasadena, Calif., at the annual meeting of the Division for Planetary Sciences of the American Astronomical Society. UCF will host the meeting in Orlando next year. The DPS includes 1,282 planetary scientists and astronomers, including 232 non-U.S. members.

Source: Science Daily