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Artist's Impression of "Hot Jupiter" Exoplanets – Annotated

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Artist's Impression of "Hot Jupiter" Exoplanets – Annotated

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Release Date

December 14, 2015 11:00AM (EST)

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Release ID: 2015-44

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This image shows an artist's impression of the 10 hot Jupiter exoplanets studied by astronomer David Sing and his colleagues using the Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes. From top left to lower left, these planets are WASP-12b, WASP-6b, WASP-31b, WASP-39b, HD 189733b, HAT-P-12b, WASP-17b, WASP-19b, HAT-P-1b and HD 209458b.

The colors of the planets are for illustration purposes only. There is little scientific data on color with the exception of HD 189733b, which became known as the "blue planet." The planets are also depicted with a variety of different cloud properties. The wind patterns shown on these 10 planets, which resemble the visible structures on Jupiter, are based on theoretical models.

The illustrations are to scale with each other. HAT-P-12b, the smallest of them, is approximately the size of Jupiter, while WASP-17b, the largest planet in the sample, is almost twice the size. The hottest planets within the sample are portrayed with a glowing night side. This effect is strongest on WASP-12b, the hottest exoplanet in the sample, but also visible on WASP-19b and WASP-17b. It is also known that several of the planets exhibit strong Rayleigh scattering. This effect causes the blue hue of the daytime sky and the reddening of the sun at sunset on Earth. It is also visible as a blue edge on the planets WASP-6b, HD 189733b, HAT-P-12b, and HD 209458b.

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About The Data

Data Description
Data for many of the targets were taken with the STIS and WFC3/IR instruments onboard HST from the following proposals: 12473: D. Sing (University of Exeter, UK) et al.; 12473: D. Sing (University of Exeter, UK) et al.; 12473: D. Deming (University of Maryland) et al.; 12473: M. Swain (JPL) et al.; 12181: P. McCullough (STScI) et al. The science team comprises: D. Sing (University of Exeter, UK), J. Fortney (University of California, Santa Cruz), N. Nikolov, T. Kataria, and T. Evans (University of Exeter, UK), H. Wakeford (NASA/GSFC), S. Aigrain (University of Oxford, UK), G. Ballester (University of Arizona, Tucson), A. Burrows (Princeton University), D. Deming (University of Maryland, College Park), J.-M. Désert (University of Colorado, Boulder), N. Gibson (European Southern Observatory, Germany), G. Henry (Tennessee State University), C. Huitson (University of Colorado, Boulder), H. Knutson (California Institute of Technology), A. Lecavelier des Etangs (CNRS, Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris), F. Pont (University of Exeter, UK), A. Showman (University of Arizona, Tucson), A. Vidal-Madjar (CNRS, Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris), M. Williamson (Tennessee State University), and P. Wilson (CNRS, Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris). TOP ROW (left to right): Object Name: WASP-12b RA: 06h 30m 33s Dec: +29° 40' 20" Constellation: Auriga Distance: 871 light-years (267 parsecs) Proposal ID/Instrument: 12473: STIS; 12230: WFC3 Object Name: WASP-6b RA: 23h 12m 38s Dec: -22° 40' 06" Constellation: Aquarius Distance: 1,000 light-years (300 parsecs) Proposal ID/Instrument: 12473: STIS Object Name: WASP-31b RA: 11h 17m 45s Dec: -19° 03' 17" Constellation: Crater Distance: 1,304 light-years (400 parsecs) Proposal ID/Instrument: 12473: STIS; 12473: WFC3 Object Name: WASP-39b RA: 14h 29m 18s Dec: -03° 26' 40" Constellation: Virgo Distance: 230 light-years (80 parsecs) Proposal ID/Instrument: 12473: STIS Object Name: HD 189733b RA: 20h 00m 44s Dec: +22° 42' 39" Constellation: Vulpecula Distance: 63 light-years (20 parsecs) Proposal ID/Instrument: 12881: WFC3 BOTTOM ROW (left to right): Object Name: HAT-P-12b RA: 13h 57m 43s Dec: +43° 29' 37" Constellation: Canes Venatici Distance: 465 light-years (143 parsecs) Proposal ID/Instrument: 12473: STIS Object Name: WASP-17b RA: 15h 59m 51s Dec: -28° 03' 42" Constellation: Scorpius Distance: 1,000 light-years (300 parsecs) Proposal ID/Instrument: 12473: STIS; 12181: WFC3 Object Name: WASP-19b RA: 09h 53m 40s Dec: -45° 39' 33" Constellation: Vela Distance: 815 light-years (250 parsecs) Proposal ID/Instrument: 12473: STIS; 12181: WFC3 Object Name: HAT-P-1b RA: 22h 57m 47s Dec: +38° 40' 30" Constellation: Lacerta Distance: 453 light-years (139 parsecs) Proposal ID/Instrument: 12473: STIS, ;12473: WFC3 Object Name: HD 209458b RA: 22h 03m 11s Dec: +18° 53' 04" Constellation: Pegasus Distance: 154 light-years (47 parsecs) Proposal ID/Instrument: 12181: WFC3
Instrument
HST>STIS, and HST>WFC3/IR
Filters
Gratings/Grism: G430L and G750L, G141, and F132N

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