1 min read

Hubble Discovers Waterworld Planet

ARTIST'S VIEW OF EXTRASOLAR PLANET GJ1214B

› Larger image

GJ1214b, shown in this artist's view, is a super-Earth orbiting a red dwarf star 40light-years from Earth. New observations from NASA's Hubble Space Telescopeshow that it is a waterworld enshrouded by a thick, steamy atmosphere. GJ1214brepresents a new type of planet, like nothing seen in our solar system or any otherplanetary system currently known.

The planet was discovered by the ground-based MEarth Project in 2009.

Credit: NASA, ESA, and D. Aguilar (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics)

Full release:

http://www.spacetelescope.org/news/heic1204/

Share

Details

Last Updated
Apr 17, 2023
Editor
NASA Hubble Mission Team

Related Terms

Explore More

This is a Hubble Space Telescope image of the barred spiral galaxy UGC 12158. The majestic galaxy has a pinwheel shape made up of bright blue stars wound around a yellow-white hub of central stars. The hub has a slash of stars across it, called a bar. The galaxy is tilted face-on to our view from Earth. A slightly s-shaped white line across the top is a Hubble image is of an asteroid streaking across Hubble's view. It looks dashed because the image is a combination of several exposures of the asteroid flying by like a race car.
5 min read

Hubble Goes Hunting for Small Main Belt Asteroids

Article13 hours ago
A spiral galaxy seen nearly face-on. The disk holds many tightly wound spiral arms. They contain small strands of reddish dust, near the center. On the left side, the disk features glowing patches of star formation. The whole right side, and part of the center, is obscured by a large cloud of dark grey gas which crosses the image.
2 min read

Hubble Spots a Galaxy Hidden in a Dark Cloud

Article7 days ago
Cover image of the Hubble Focus: Dark Universe e-book. Black background with a galaxy cluster that is superimposed with a blue-white haze that indicates the location of dark matter. Top of the image holds the phrase, "Hubble Focus." The "o" in focus is Hubble as we look down the tube of the telescope.
5 min read

NASA’s New Hubble E-Book Spotlights Universe’s Best-Kept Dark Secrets

Article2 weeks ago
Keep Exploring

Discover More Topics From NASA

James Webb Space Telescope

The image is divided horizontally by an undulating line between a cloudscape forming a nebula along the bottom portion and a comparatively clear upper portion. Speckled across both portions is a starfield, showing innumerable stars of many sizes. The smallest of these are small, distant, and faint points of light. The largest of these appear larger, closer, brighter, and more fully resolved with 8-point diffraction spikes. The upper portion of the image is blueish, and has wispy translucent cloud-like streaks rising from the nebula below. The orangish cloudy formation in the bottom half varies in density and ranges from translucent to opaque. The stars vary in color, the majority of which have a blue or orange hue. The cloud-like structure of the nebula contains ridges, peaks, and valleys – an appearance very similar to a mountain range. Three long diffraction spikes from the top right edge of the image suggest the presence of a large star just out of view.

Perseverance Rover

Parker Solar Probe

Juno