Planets and Moons  ID: 11365

New Planet

Story by Paul Gabrielsen Released on October 22, 2013
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In the search for Earth-like planets, astronomers uncover a strange blue world.
Scientists estimate more than 100 billion planets exist beyond our solar system. These alien worlds, known as exoplanets, orbit distant stars located light-years from Earth. One such planet is called HD 189733b. A gas giant slightly larger than Jupiter, HD 189733b circles its star from a distance of only 3 million miles. That's 13 times closer than Mercury is to our sun. As a result, temperatures in its atmosphere approach 2,000°F. Astronomers discovered HD 189733b in 2005 after observing its parent star dimming with every pass, or transit, of the planet. We now know from follow-up observations by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope that HD 189733b is blue in color. Watch the video to learn more.
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Why is HD 189733b blue? Watch this video to find out.
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HD 189733b is located 63 light-years from Earth. This illustration shows how the planet would appear up close.
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To date, more than 60 exoplanets (black circles) have been observed transiting their host star.
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The Hubble Space Telescope (above) launched into space in 1990.

For More Information

Science@NASA

Story Credits

Lead Writer:
Paul Gabrielsen (NASA/GSFC)

Please give credit for this item to:
Science@NASA and NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
Cover image courtesy of NASA/CXC/M. Weiss
Video courtesy of Science@NASA
HD 189733b illustration courtesy of NASA/ESA/M. Kornmesser
Exoplanets image courtesy of Fermilab Center for Particle Astrophysics/J. Steffen

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https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/11365

Keywords:
SVS >> App
NASA Science >> Planets and Moons