WASP-12b extrasolar planet. Artwork showing the extrasolar planet WASP-12b (right) orbiting its host star WASP-12 (left). WASP-12 is a yellow dwarf star that lies around 800 light-years from Earth,in the constellation Auriga. WASP-12b is a hot gas planet. It lies just over 2 million miles away from the star and takes only one day to orbit the star. The close proximity distorts the shape of the planet and it also has a temperature of over 2,200 degrees Celsius. NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope observed that the planet has more carbon than oxygen,making it the first carbon-rich planet ever discovered | |
Licence : | Droits gérés |
Crédit: | Science Photo Library / NASA |
Taille de l’image : | 4825 px × 3619 px |
Model Release : | Non requis |
Restrictions : | - |