New Planet
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- Written by:
- Paul Gabrielsen
- View full credits
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.
For More Information
See Science@NASA
Credits
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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Writer
- Paul Gabrielsen (NASA/GSFC) [Lead]