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Credit & Copyright: Martin Vargic,
Halcyon Maps
Explanation:
Do other stars have planets like our Sun?
Surely they do, and evidence includes slight
star wobbles created by the gravity of orbiting
exoplanets
and slight star dimmings caused by orbiting planets moving in front.
In all, there have now been over 5,500
exoplanets discovered, including
thousands by
NASA's space-based
Kepler and
TESS missions, and over 100 by
ESO's ground-based
HARPS instrument.
Featured here is an illustrated guess
as to what some of these
exoplanets might look like.
Neptune-type planets occupy the middle and are
colored blue because of blue-scattering
atmospheric methane they might contain.
On the sides of the illustration,
Jupiter-type
planets are shown, colored tan and red from the
scatterings of atmospheric gases that likely include small amounts of
carbon.
Interspersed are many Earth-type
rocky planets of many colors.
As more
exoplanets are discovered and investigated,
humanity is developing a
better understanding of how common Earth-like planets are, and how common life
might be in the universe.
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: extrasolar planet
Publications with words: extrasolar planet
See also:
- Temperatures on Exoplanet WASP 43b
- Epsilon Tauri: Star with Planet
- APOD: 2023 October 17 Á PDS 70: Disk, Planets, and Moons
- APOD: 2023 September 20 Á Methane Discovered on Distant Exoplanet
- APOD: 2023 June 6 Á Star Eats Planet
- APOD: 2023 February 1 Á The Seventh World of Trappist 1
- APOD: 2023 January 24 Á LHS 475 b: Earth Sized Exoplanet