NASA Image of the Day: Extrasolar Complex title

Do other stars have planets like our Sun? It certainly is. There is also evidence of slight wobbles in the star as it rotates due to the gravity of the exoplanets. The stars also become dim due to the motion of the rotating planets in front of them.

In total, more than 5,500 exoplanets have now been discovered. Of these, thousands of planets have been discovered by NASA‘s Kepler and TESS missions, and more than 100 by the HARPS spectrometer.

What do we see in NASA’s image of the day

Here’s an illustrated guess at what some of these exoplanets might look like.

Neptune-type planets occupy the middle and are blue because of the atmospheric methane they may have. At the edges of the image, the Jupiter-type planets are shown, colored yellowish-brown and red by the scattering of atmospheric gases that probably contain small amounts of carbon.

Many Earth-type rocky planets are interspersed with different colors. With the discovery and investigation of more exoplanets, humanity is gaining a better understanding of the prevalence of Earth-like planets and the chance of life in the universe.

Many Earth-type rocky planets are interspersed with different colors. With the discovery and investigation of more exoplanets, humanity is gaining a better understanding of the prevalence of Earth-like planets and the chance of life in the universe.