This is a temperature map of exoplanet WASP-43b. The gas giant planet orbits very close to its parent star with a period of 19.5 hours. Because the planet keeps one side facing its star, there are huge temperature extremes between the day and night sides. The white-colored region on the daytime side is 2,800 degrees Fahrenheit. The nighttime-side temperatures drop below 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit. This steep gradient is in stark contrast to the predominantly uniform temperatures of the solar system's giant planets. Infrared observations with the Hubble Space Telescope measured how temperatures change with both altitude and longitude on the planet.
Credits
NASA, ESA, and K. Stevenson, L. Kreidberg, and J. Bean (University of Chicago)| About The Object | |
|---|---|
| Object Name | WASP-43b |
| Object Description | Extrasolar Planet |
| R.A. Position | 10h 19m 38s.01 |
| Dec. Position | -09° 48' 22".61 |
| Constellation | Sextans |
| Distance | 260 light-years (80 parsecs) |
| About The Data | |
| Data Description | The image was created from Hubble data from the following proposal: PI: J. Bean (University of Chicago) et al. Members of the science team include: K. Stevenson (University of Chicago), J.-M. Désert (CASA/University of Colorado), M. Line (University of California, Santa Cruz), J. Bean (University of Chicago), J. Fortney (University of California, Santa Cruz), A. Showman and T. Kataria (University of Arizona), L. Kreidberg (University of Chicago), P.R. McCullough (STScI/JHU), G. Henry (Tennessee State University), D. Charbonneau (Harvard University), A. Burrows (Princeton University), S. Seager (MIT), N. Madhusudhan (University of Cambridge, UK), M. Williamson (Tennessee State University), and D. Homeier (CNRS/University of Lyons). |
| Instrument | HST>WFC3/IR |
| Exposure Dates | November - December, 2013 |
| Filters | Grating: G141 |
| About The Image | |
| Compass Image |  |
| About The Object | |
|---|---|
| Object Name | A name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object. |
| Object Description | The type of astronomical object. |
| R.A. Position | Right ascension – analogous to longitude – is one component of an object's position. |
| Dec. Position | Declination – analogous to latitude – is one component of an object's position. |
| Constellation | One of 88 recognized regions of the celestial sphere in which the object appears. |
| Distance | The physical distance from Earth to the astronomical object. Distances within our solar system are usually measured in Astronomical Units (AU). Distances between stars are usually measured in light-years. Interstellar distances can also be measured in parsecs. |
| Dimensions | The physical size of the object or the apparent angle it subtends on the sky. |
| About The Data | |
| Data Description |
|
| Instrument | The science instrument used to produce the data. |
| Exposure Dates | The date(s) that the telescope made its observations and the total exposure time. |
| Filters | The camera filters that were used in the science observations. |
| About The Image | |
| Image Credit | The primary individuals and institutions responsible for the content. |
| Publication Date | The date and time the release content became public. |
| Color Info | A brief description of the methods used to convert telescope data into the color image being presented. |
| Orientation | The rotation of the image on the sky with respect to the north pole of the celestial sphere. |
