Universe  ID: 11898

Hubble Detects "Sunscreen" Layer on Distant Planet

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.

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Credits

Britt Griswold (Maslow Media Group): Animator
Jay Friedlander (TRAX International): Illustrator
Avi Mandell (NASA/GSFC): Scientist
Elizabeth Zubritsky (ADNET): Science Writer
Please give credit for this item to:
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio

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Mission:
Hubble

Keywords:
SVS >> HDTV
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Atmosphere
SVS >> Hubble Space Telescope
SVS >> Stratosphere
NASA Science >> Universe
SVS >> Exoplanet
SVS >> Extrasolar planet

GCMD keywords can be found on the Internet with the following citation: Olsen, L.M., G. Major, K. Shein, J. Scialdone, S. Ritz, T. Stevens, M. Morahan, A. Aleman, R. Vogel, S. Leicester, H. Weir, M. Meaux, S. Grebas, C.Solomon, M. Holland, T. Northcutt, R. A. Restrepo, R. Bilodeau, 2013. NASA/Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Earth Science Keywords. Version 8.0.0.0.0