Artist’s impression of an ultra-hot Jupiter transiting its star

This artist’s impression shows an ultra-hot exoplanet, a planet beyond our Solar System, as it is about to transit in front of its host star. When the light from the star passes through the planet’s atmosphere, it is filtered by the chemical elements and molecules in the gaseous layer. With sensitive instruments, the signatures of those elements and molecules can be observed from Earth. Using the ESPRESSO instrument of ESO’s Very Large Telescope, astronomers have found the heaviest element yet in an exoplanet's atmosphere, barium, in the two ultra-hot Jupiters WASP-76 b and WASP-121 b.

Credit:

ESO/M. Kornmesser

About the Image

Id:eso2213a
Type:Artwork
Release date:13 October 2022, 14:00
Related releases:eso2213
Size:6220 x 3850 px

About the Object

Name:WASP-76b
Type:Milky Way : Star : Circumstellar Material : Planetary System
Category:Exoplanets
Illustrations

Image Formats

Large JPEG
2.2 MB
Screensize JPEG
82.2 KB