This artist's concept shows "The Behemoth," an enormous comet-like cloud of hydrogen bleeding off of a warm, Neptune-sized planet just 30 light-years from Earth. Also depicted is the parent star, which is a faint red dwarf named GJ 436. The hydrogen is evaporating from the planet due to extreme radiation from the star. A phenomenon this large has never before been seen around any exoplanet.
Credits
NASA, ESA, and G. Bacon (STScI)| About The Object | |
|---|---|
| Object Name | GJ 436b |
| Object Description | Exoplanet |
| R.A. Position | 11h 42m 11s.09 |
| Dec. Position | +26° 42' 23."65 |
| Constellation | Leo |
| Distance | 30 light-years (9.2 parsecs) |
| About The Data | |
| Data Description | Data of GJ 436b were obtained from the HST proposals , PI: J. Green (University of Colorado, Boulder), et al. and : PI: D. Ehrenreich (Observatory of the University of Geneva, Switzerland), et al. The science team comprises: D. Ehrenreich and V. Bourrier (Observatory of the University of Geneva, Switzerland), P. Wheatley (University of Warwick, UK), A. Lecavelier des Etangs (CNRS, Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris), G. Hebrard (Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris/Observatoire de Haute-Provence), S. Udry (Observatory of the University of Geneva, Switzerland), X. Bonfils and X. Delfosse (University of Grenoble, France), J.-M. Desert (CASA), D. Sing (University of Exeter), and A. Vidal-Madjar (Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris). |
| Instrument | HST>STIS |
| Exposure Dates | December 7, 2012, June 18, 2013, and June 23, 2014 |
| 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. |
