Hubble Archives

Measuring Tracers of Planet Formation in the Atmosphere of WASP-77A b: Sub-stellar O/H and C/H ratios, with a stellar C/O ratio and a potentially Super-stellar Ti/H ratio

by Keith CowingFebruary 29, 2024September 18, 2025

We present a comprehensive atmospheric retrieval study of the hot Jupiter WASP-77A b using eclipse observations from the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and JWST.

Exomoon Kepler-1625b I orbiting exoplanet Kepler-1625b (artist concept) -- Wikipedia

Astronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Press Release

Giant Doubts About Giant Exomoons

by Keith CowingFebruary 6, 2024February 6, 2024

Only two of the more than 5300 known exoplanets have so far provided evidence of moons in orbit around them. In observations of the planets Kepler-1625b and Kepler-1708b from the […]

This is an artist's concept of the nearby exoplanet LTT 1445Ac, which is the size of Earth. The planet orbits a red dwarf star. The star is in a triple system, with two closely orbiting red dwarfs seen at upper right. The black dot in front of the bright light-red sphere at image center is planet LTT 1445Ac transiting the face of the star. The planet has a surface temperature of roughly 500 degrees Fahrenheit. In the foreground at lower left is another planet in the system, LTT 1445Ab. The view is from 22 light-years away, looking back toward our Sun, which is the bright dot at lower right. Some of the background stars are part of the constellation Boötes. NASA, ESA, Leah Hustak (STScI)

Astronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Press Release

Hubble Measures the Size of the Nearest Transiting Earth-Sized Planet

by Keith CowingNovember 16, 2023November 16, 2023

NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has measured the size of the nearest Earth-sized exoplanet that passes across the face of a neighboring star. This alignment, called a transit, opens the door […]

This newly released image from the NASA Hubble Space Telescope shows the planet Jupiter in a color composite of ultraviolet wavelengths.

Astrochemistry, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Gas Giants, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Jupiter, Press Release

Mapping Water Clouds On Jupiter With Ultraviolet Data From Hubble

by Keith CowingNovember 8, 2023November 17, 2023

Released in honor of Jupiter reaching opposition, which occurs when the planet and the Sun are in opposite sides of the sky, this view of the gas giant planet includes […]

Transmission spectrum of HD 209458b, observed with HST STIS (orange points), HST WFC3 (red points), and Spitzer (green points). Overplotted are median model spectra drawn from the posteriors of each of the six retrievals described in Section 3.2. All models are the same except for their treatment of clouds and hazes. Median forward models have been downsampled to a resolution R = 200 for clarity. PL+G refers to power-law haze + grey cloud models, and A&M refers to Ackerman & Marley cloud models. -- astro-ph.IM

Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report

Methods For Incorporating Model Uncertainty Into Exoplanet Atmospheric Analysis

by Keith CowingOctober 7, 2023October 7, 2023

A key goal of exoplanet spectroscopy is to measure atmospheric properties, such as abundances of chemical species, in order to connect them to our understanding of atmospheric physics and planet […]

WASP-18 b, seen in an artist concept, is a gas giant exoplanet 10 times more massive than Jupiter that orbits its star in just 23 hours. Researchers used NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope to study the planet as it moved behind its star. Temperatures there reach 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit (2,700 C). Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech (K. Miller/IPAC)

Astrochemistry, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Press Release

Webb Maps and Finds Traces of Water in an Ultra-hot Gas Giant’s Atmosphere

by Keith CowingMay 31, 2023May 31, 2023

There’s an intriguing exoplanet out there – 400 light-years out there – that is so tantalizing that astronomers have been studying it since its discovery in 2009. A year for […]

Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Press Release

Hubble WFC3 Spectroscopy of the Terrestrial Planets L~98-59~c \& d: No Evidence for a Clear Hydrogen Dominated Primary Atmosphere

by Keith CowingDecember 27, 2022December 27, 2022

The nearby bright M-dwarf star L~98-59 has three terrestrial-sized planets. One challenge remaining in characterizing atmospheres around such planets is that it is not known a priori whether they possess […]

Astronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Press Release

TrExoLiSTS: Transiting Exoplanets List of Space Telescope Spectroscopy

by Keith CowingDecember 16, 2022December 16, 2022

We present the STScI WFC3 project webpage, Transiting Exoplanets List of Space Telescope Spectroscopy, TrExoLiSTS. It tabulates existing observations of transiting exoplanet atmospheres, available in the MAST archive made with […]

Astronomy & Telescopes, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Two Exoplanets May Be Mostly Water, NASA’s Hubble and Spitzer Find

by Keith CowingDecember 15, 2022December 15, 2022

A team led by of researchers at the University of Montreal has found evidence that two exoplanets orbiting a red dwarf star are “water worlds,” where water makes up a […]