Contact: Lars Lindberg Christensen
lars@eso.org
49-893-200-6306
ESA/Hubble Information Centre

Artist's Impression of the Extrasolar Planet HD 189733b

Caption: Artist's impression of the extrasolar planet HD 189733b, now known to have methane and water. Astronomers used the Hubble Space Telescope to detect methane -- the first organic molecule found on an extrasolar planet. Hubble also confirmed the presence of water vapor in the Jupiter-size planet's atmosphere, a discovery made in 2007 with the help of the Spitzer Space Telescope. They made the finding by studying how light from the host star filters through the planet's atmosphere.

Credit: ESA, NASA and G. Tinetti (University College London, UK & ESA)

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