Hubble Finds Water Vapor On Distant Exoplanet

Master VersionHorizontal version. This is for use on any YouTube or non-YouTube platform where you want to display the video horizontally. Vertical VersionThis vertical version of the episode is for IGTV or Snapchat. The IGTV episode can be pulled into Instagram Stories and the regular Instagram feed.

Master VersionHorizontal version. This is for use on any YouTube or non-YouTube platform where you want to display the video horizontally. Vertical VersionThis vertical version of the episode is for IGTV or Snapchat. The IGTV episode can be pulled into Instagram Stories and the regular Instagram feed. A star’s death throes have so violently disrupted its planetary system that the dead star left behind, called a white dwarf, is siphoning off debris from both the system’s inner and outer reaches. This is the first time astronomers have observed a white dwarf star that is consuming both rocky-metallic and icy material, the ingredients of planets. Archival data from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope and other NASA observatories were essential in diagnosing this case of cosmic cannibalism. The findings help describe the violent nature of evolved planetary systems and can tell astronomers about the makeup of newly forming systems.For more information, visit https://nasa.gov/hubble. Music & Sound“Through a Computer Screen” by Raphael Olivier [SACEM] via KTSA Publishing [SACEM] and Universal Production MusicESA Credit:Ring of rocky debris around a white dwarf star (artist’s impression)Credit: NASA, ESA, STScI, and G. Bacon (STScI)Evaporating extrasolar planet, from Video (artist's impression)Credit: ESA, Alfred Vidal-Madjar (Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris, CNRS, France) and NASA.Red Giant SunCredit: ESA/Hubble (M. Kornmesser & L. L. Christensen)Flight through our Solar SystemCredit: ESA/Hubble (M. Kornmesser & L. L. Christensen)ESO Credit:Comets in Solar SystemCredit on screen with : ESO/L. Calçada/N. Risinger (skysurvey.org) Related pages

Master VersionHorizontal version. This is for use on any YouTube or non-YouTube platform where you want to display the video horizontally. Vertical VersionThis vertical version of the episode is for IGTV or Snapchat. The IGTV episode can be pulled into Instagram Stories and the regular Instagram feed. Scientists using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope have found evidence that a planet orbiting a distant star that may have lost its atmosphere but gained a second one through volcanic activity. The planet, GJ 1132 b, is hypothesized to have begun as a gaseous world with a thick hydrogen blanket of atmosphere. Starting out at several times the diameter of Earth, this so-called “sub-Neptune” is believed to have quickly lost its primordial hydrogen and helium atmosphere due to the intense radiation of the hot, young star it orbits. In a short period of time, such a planet would be stripped down to a bare core about the size of Earth. That’s when things got interesting.For more information, visit https://nasa.gov/hubble. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center Paul Morris: Lead Producer Additional Visualizations:Artist’s impression of Exoplanet GJ 1132 b: Robert HurtAtmosphere escaping an exoplanet (artist’s impression): NASA, ESA, M. KornmesserArtist’s impression of WASP-107b: ESA/Hubble, NASA, M. KornmesserVideo animation of of Exoplanet GJ 1132 b: Robert HurtAerial of oozing red lava in Hawaii: ArtbeatsAerial from Puu Oo volcanic vents on Hawaii's Kilauea: ArtbeatsExovolcano Animation Background Only: Michael LentzIllustration depicting one interpretation of planet GJ 357 c: Chris SmithMusic Credits: "Planetary Exploration" by Richard Andrew Canavan [PRS] via Sound Pocket Music [PRS], and Universal Production Music. Related pages

Master VersionHorizontal version. This is for use on any YouTube or non-YouTube platform where you want to display the video horizontally. Vertical VersionThis vertical version of the episode is for IGTV or Snapchat. The IGTV episode can be pulled into Instagram Stories and the regular Instagram feed. The Hubble Space Telescope has transformed our understanding of the universe, its view from orbit unleashing a flood of cosmic discoveries that have changed astronomy forever. From its discovery of dark energy to its quest to determine the age of the universe, Hubble has helped answer some of the most compelling astronomical questions of our time and revealed even stranger phenomena, opening our eyes to the grandeur and mystery of space.For more information, visit https://nasa.gov/hubble.Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight CenterPaul R. Morris (USRA): Lead ProducerTracy Vogel: Lead WriterMusic Credits: "Above the Stars" by Magnum Opus [ ASCAP ] Universal Production Music Related pages

Master VersionHorizontal version. This is for use on any YouTube or non-YouTube platform where you want to display the video horizontally. Vertical VersionThis vertical version of the episode is for IGTV or Snapchat. The IGTV episode can be pulled into Instagram Stories and the regular Instagram feed. The universe would be a pretty boring place without stars. Without them, the universe would remain a diffuse plasma of mostly hydrogen and helium from the big bang. To better understand stellar evolution, a new Hubble initiative has been launched called ULLYSES (UV Legacy Library of Young Stars as Essential Standards). This is the largest observing program ever undertaken by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, which will be used to look at over 300 stars. Ultraviolet (UV) light from the target stars will be used to produce a library of the spectral fingerprints of young, low-mass stars from eight star-forming regions in the Milky Way, as well as fully mature high-mass stars in several nearby dwarf galaxies including the Magellanic Clouds.For more information, visit https://nasa.gov/hubble.Music Credits:"Red Giant" by Christian Tschuggnall [AKM] and Michael Edwards [APRA] via Atmosphere Music Ltd [PRS] and Universal Production Music Related pages

Master VersionHorizontal version. This is for use on any YouTube or non-YouTube platform where you want to display the video horizontally. Box VersionThis is a square 1:1 version of the video designed for Facebook or any other platform where you want to display a full-length square version of the video. Vertical VersionThis vertical version of the episode is for IGTV or Snapchat. The IGTV episode can be pulled into Instagram Stories and the regular Instagram feed. On April 24, 2020, the Hubble Space Telescope celebrated its 30th year in orbit by premiering a never-before-seen view of two stunning nebulas named NGC 2020 and NGC 2014. Even after all these years, Hubble continues to uncover the mysteries of the universe. These are a few science achievements from Hubble’s latest year in orbit.For more information about the Hubble Space Telescope and its images, visit https://nasa.gov/hubble.Music Credits:“Twist of Fate” by Axel Tenner [GEMA], Michael Schluecker [GEMA], and Raphael Schalz [GEMA]. Berlin Production Music and Universal Production Music. Related pages

Click HERE for FULL STORY about this exciting discovery.Click for quick link to soundbites from interview with Dr. Jennifer Wiseman. Canned interview with Dr. Jennifer Wiseman/ Hubble Senior ScientistTRT 7:45 Its size and surface gravity are much larger than Earth’s, and its radiation environment may be hostile, but a distant planet called K2-18b has captured the interest of scientists all over the world. For the first time, researchers have detected water vapor signatures in the atmosphere of a planet beyond our solar system that resides in the "habitable zone," the region around a star in which liquid water could potentially pool on the surface of a rocky planet.Astronomers at the Center for Space Exochemistry Data at the University College London in the United Kingdom used data from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope to find water vapor in the atmosphere of K2-18b, an exoplanet around a small red dwarf star about 110 light-years away in the constellation Leo. If confirmed by further studies, this will be the only exoplanet known to have both water in its atmosphere and temperatures that could sustain liquid water on a rocky surface. Liquid water would only be possible if the planet turns out to be terrestrial in nature, rather than resembling a small version of Neptune.Given the high level of activity of its red dwarf star, K2-18b may be more hostile to life as we know it than Earth, as it is likely to be exposed to more high-energy radiation. The planet, discovered by NASA's Kepler Space Telescope in 2015, also has a mass eight times greater than Earth's. That means the surface gravity on this planet would be significantly higher than on our planet.The team used archive data from 2016 and 2017 captured by Hubble and developed open-source algorithms to analyze the host star’s light filtered through K2-18b’s atmosphere. The results revealed the molecular signature of water vapor, and also suggest the presence of hydrogen and helium in the planet’s atmosphere.The authors of the paper, published in Nature Astronomy, believe that other molecules, including nitrogen and methane, may be present but they remain undetectable with current observations. Further studies are required to estimate cloud coverage and the percentage of atmospheric water present. A paper from a different team of scientists using Hubble observations has been submitted to the Astronomical Journal.K2-18b is one of hundreds of "super-Earths" — exoplanets with masses between those of Earth and Neptune — found by Kepler. NASA’s TESS mission is expected to detect hundreds more super-Earths in the coming years. The next generation of space telescopes, including the James Webb Space Telescope, will be able to characterize exoplanet atmospheres in more detail.The Hubble Space Telescope is a project of international cooperation between ESA (the European Space Agency) and NASA. Related pages

Horizontal versionWatch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel Vertical versionThis vertical version of the video is for IGTV. The IGTV video can be pulled into Instagram Stories and the regular Instagram feed. Use either the provided vertical thumbnail or select a frame from the video to be the thumbnail. Instagram story slideOne slide for Instagram story. Have the slide swipe up to play the vertical version of the episode. On April 24, 2019, the Hubble Space Telescope celebrated its 29th year in orbit by premiering a never-before-seen view of the Southern Crab Nebula. Even after all these years, Hubble continues to uncover the mysteries of the universe. These are a few science achievements from Hubble’s latest year in orbit.For more information, visit nasa.gov/hubble.Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center / Tim ChildersMusic Credits: “Fortress Europe” by Dan Bodan from the YouTube audio library. Related pages

Watch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.Music credit: "Deep Groove" by Danny McCarthy [ASCAP] and Thomas Dill [ASCAP]; Soundcast Music SESAC; Chronic Trax; Killer Tracks Production Music Astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope have conducted the first spectroscopic survey of Earth-sized planets in the TRAPPIST-1 system's habitable zone. Hubble reveals that at least the inner five planets do not seem to contain puffy, hydrogen-rich atmospheres similar to gaseous planets such as Neptune. This means the atmospheres may be more shallow and rich in heavier gases like carbon dioxide, methane, and oxygen.Find the full story and press release at hubblesite.org.Read the joint Hubble and Spitzer findings on nasa.gov.The science paper is available from Nature Astronomy. Related pages

Watch this video on the NASA.gov Video YouTube channel.Music credit: "Feels Good" by Louise Dowd and Stephen William Cornish, Atmosphere Music Ltd, Killer Tracks Production Music Animation - Artist concept of the double-transit Hubble observed on May 4, 2016, when planets TRAPPIST-1b and TRAPPIST-1c passed across the disk of their host star just minutes apart. On May 4th, 2016, the Hubble Space Telescope made the first spectroscopic measurements of two of the three known Earth-sized exoplanets in the TRAPPIST-1 system just 40 light-years away. Now the results are in: a thick, puffy, hydrogen-helium atmosphere is likely ruled out from the possible range of atmospheres for these two planets.Additional visuals from the European Southern Observatory can be downloaded here: http://www.eso.org/public/news/eso1615/E For More InformationSee [http://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-s-hubble-telescope-makes-first-atmospheric-study-of-earth-sized-exoplanets](http://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-s-hubble-telescope-makes-first-atmospheric-study-of-earth-sized-exoplanets) Related pages

ANIMATION Using NASA’s Hubble Telescope, scientists detected a stratosphere on the planet WASP-33b. A stratosphere occurs when molecules in the atmosphere absorb ultraviolet and visible light from the star. This absorption warms the stratosphere and acts as a kind of sunscreen layer for the planet below.Watch this video on YouTube. ILLUSTRATION WASP-33b’s stratosphere was detected by measuring the drop in light as the planet passed behind its star (top). Temperatures in the low stratosphere rise because of molecules absorbing radiation from the star (right). Without a stratosphere, temperatures would cool down at higher altitudes (left). STILL IMAGE Artist concept of the giant planet WASP-33b transiting its sun, the Delta Scuti variable star WASP-33 (HD 15082). Using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, scientists have detected a stratosphere, one of the primary layers of Earth’s atmosphere, on a massive and blazing-hot exoplanet known as WASP-33b.The presence of a stratosphere can provide clues about the composition of a planet and how it formed. This atmospheric layer includes molecules that absorb ultraviolet and visible light, acting as a kind of “sunscreen” for the planet it surrounds. Until now, scientists were uncertain whether these molecules would be found in the atmospheres of large, extremely hot planets in other star systems.Learn more on NASA.gov. For More InformationSee [NASA.gov](http://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-s-hubble-telescope-detects-sunscreen-layer-on-distant-planet) Related pages