Skip to main content Oo " Related Hubble Observes a Stunning Spiral Vimage-feature/goddard/2023/hubble- observes-3-stunning-spiral) Hubble Checks in ona Galactic Neighbor Vimage-feature/goddard/2023/hubble- ‘hecks-in-on-a-galactic-neighbor) Hubble Glimpses a Glistening Custer Vimage-feature/goddard/2023/hubble- glimpses-a-glstening-cluster) Hubble Captures a Billowing regular Galaxy Vimage-feature/goddard/2023/hubble- captures-a-billowing-Iregular-galaxy) Hubble Observes a Cosmic Sea Creature month ago Vimage-feature/goddard/2023/hubble- observes-a-cosmic-sea-creature) =. Virmane- Uistes/detauk/fles/thumbnals/image/nubble 1481 pla22093-nasapg) Jun 29,2022, NASA's New Hubble E-Book Takes Readers ona Journey to Curious Worlds NASA's Hubble Space Telescope team has released a new edition inthe Hubble Focus &- 00k series (hitpsAwww.nasa govicontentigoddardshubble-e-books), called “Hubble Focus: Strange New Worlds." Ths e-book highlights the mission's recent discoveries about worlds ‘outside our solar system, known as exoplanets (a NASA TV r= ies im € cus CJ Strange New Worlds ae (istesidetauluflesthumbnailsimagethubble_focus_coverlpg) ‘tenance, Keslr38 ard ral ranged da Kaplr"30, Crete: NASA's Goddard Space Fight Center Download:Hupple wazes ata Hazy Galaxy” ~ feature/goddard/2023/hubble-gazes- at-a-hazy-galany) Hubble Captures a Osifting Galaxy Vimage-feature/goddard/2023/hubble- captures-a-drifting-galaxy) ‘2Pub format (120 MB) (tps. govistesidofautlesiatomstfiesihubble_focus_exoplaneis_june2022.epub) POF format (5 MB) (tpetwww.iasa govisitesidefautfesiatomstiesinubble_focus_exoplanels june2022 pdf) “The Hubble Space Telescope is once again opening our eyes to an increible universe, tis ‘ime to the nature of alen works,” ead Jennifer Wiseman, NASA's Hubble genio project Scientist. “These are impressive achievements when we consider that when Hubble was. designed and launched. no exoplanets had yet beon discovered.” Weird Worlds and Other Earths For thousands of years, people beloved Earth was fixed a the center ofthe universe and that ‘every other celestial object revolved around our planet. But overtime, it became clear that Earth dd not accupy such a special position, People began to see that perhaps Earth was nat ‘as unique as they thought, Some even wondered i there might be planets circling other stars, ‘To date, astronomers have found more than 5,000 exoplanets (hps:fexoplanetarchive.ipac.calech ecu). While astronomers intially expected to And ‘ystems similar to ours, most ofthe fst exoplanets they discovered were wid and axatc ‘compared io our solar system. Hubble's exoplanet studles continue to help broaden our view ‘of planetary systems by revealing even more adcball, often by investigating the chemisty of thir atmospheres via spectroscopy - the study ofthe information coded in light, Hubble's spectroscopic observations have unveiled withering worés thal dwindle as they lose thir atmospheres to space, and planets in bizarte orbits. But the observatory has also revealed worlds that are more similar to our own, Hubble has stucied exoplanets _atmosphores and found several that contain water vapor —an essential ingredient for Ife as we know i Some of ese worlds even orbit within ther star's habitable zone, which i the ‘ange of orbital distances where temperatures are mild enough that quid water could pool an planetary surfaces. “Hubble has provided us witha wealth of information onthe varity that ‘exists among exoplanes, probing the composition of ther atmospheres and discovering ‘exotic weather seen nowhere on Earth or even elsewhere in our solar systom,” said Ken Carpenter, Hubble's operations project scientist based al NASA Goddard Space Flight Center “Ita also carried out an extremely crtcal exploration of relationship between these ‘exoplanets and thir host stars and how it drives conditions on the planetary surfaces that influence their habtabilly. Hubble has shown us that even stars unlike our Sun may harbor habitable words and thus broadened our search for fe elsewhere inthe galaxy.” Alien Weather and Stellar Relationships Earth exhibits a wide range of weather, fom rolling thunderstorms to sunry skies to Bizards. Thanks to Hubble, astronomers have eames about the weather some exoplanels experience, including matten iron rain, amber skies, and even sunsereen-like snow furis. Future ‘observations could reveal more information about what drives exoplanets' weather, including ‘heir relationships with ther host stars. (/stes/cefautitiestrumbralsimagemubble_1419_pressrelease1280tpg) arated plone! reg easel Dees tom EaFr our own host star, he Sun, were just a lite hotter or cater, o iit were much older or younger, Earth might net be habitable, Hubble has helped astronomers explore othe planet- ‘tar relationships, offering clues to how they may evolve and informing our search for habitable worlds. Tho observatory has ever revealed a world with two suns and studied ‘ferent types of stars to explore which are most conducive tote \While Sunike stars may be the most obvious targets to search for habitable planets, Hubble revealed that orange darts ~ smaller and cooler than aur yellow-white Sun, but larger and hotter than red dwarfs could offer better chances. These stars are nolo hol, 0 coal, ot ‘00 violent to hostIfe-rienaly planets over vast stretches of cosmic time. Hubble's future observations wil continue to help us focus our search for habitable words, bringing us ever closer tothe possibilty of finding fe on other planets Disk Dwellers "New stars form inthe Miky Way from swing clouds of gas and dust that are peppered throughout our galaxy. Vestiges of those clouds remain, surrounding each star ina ask that ‘grows ever more difuse as debrs clumps together to form objects tke planots. Hubble's ‘exoplanetstucles have largely focused on the planets themselves, but occasionally surprises pop up inthe disks in which these planets are embedded. Hubble has seen an earia shadow sweep across a star's surrounding dik, studied comets a planets gravy i hurling int its star, and watched a growing planet gobble up material. The observatory has even offered clues about the mystery of why so few planets between the sizes of Earth and Neptune exis Hubble will continue to reveal new information about the worlds that grace our galaxy for years to come, provicing hints about our own solar system's formation and evalution along the way. {As the fourth edition of the series, this e-book bullds onthe wealth of information shared in previous renditions (tpe:/hwww.nasa,govicontentigoddard/hubble-e-books), which focused ‘on the solar system (hip siz. nasa.govieature/goddard/2017inasa-s-new-ubble-e-book- sefies-civas-intothe-solar-systom-and-beyond) stars (htpssiwn.nasa.govieature/godéard/202 Ynasa-s-new-hubble-focus-c-dook-provides-2- ‘ront-row-seat-to-2-sky-ful-f-tars), and galaxies (tps yhwn.nasa.govlfeturefhubble-focus- .galaxies-trough-space-and-time). Upcoming editions will zoom in on othor cosmic topics, such as dark matter (htps:www.nasa.govicontentiiscoveries-highlghts-shining-eight-on- dark-matte) and dark energy (hls Jwwr.nasa.govicontentldscoveries-highlghts- iscovering-s-unaway-universe) — two invsile cosmic mysteries that make up the majority of ‘The new e-book is compatible with most electranic davies and can be downloaded in ‘multiple formals for fee from: hitossiwww.nasa.govicantentgoddard/hubble-«-books (htpsiwnasa.govleontentigaddardthublo-2-books) For more information about Hubble, visit www nasa gowhubble (htp:iwww nasa govhubble) Banner Image Caption: This art's concept shows the seven Earth-szed planes in the TRAPPIST- system. Hubble studied several of the planets’ atmaspheres and found that hey could be conducive to fe as we know it, though folow-up observations are needed to confirm this finding. Credit: NASAVJPL-Cattoch By Ashley Balzer (mailto:ashley.m.balzor@nass.gov) NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (http:/www.nasa.govigodderd) ‘Last Updatod: Jun 29, 2022 Euitor:Androa Gianopoulos Tags: Exoplanet fhttos:#wwnwnasa gou/contet/the-search-fr-lMe), Goddard Space Fight Center (icentersgoddard/nome/indexheil Hubble Space Telescope (imssion pages hubble/maivindexhtrl, Universe /topics/solarsystervindex htmlRead Next Related Article “ National Aeronautics and Space Administration Page Last Updated: Jun 28, 2022 NASA Offical: Brian Dunbar No Fear Act (htps:iwww.nasa goveticesiodeo!ne-toar-act) FOIA (htpstheenase.goviFOIA) Privacy (http: www.nasa.govlabouthighlghtsIMP_Privacyst) Accessibilty (hips:shwww.nasa.goweaturalaccessibiliy statement) Office of inspector General (htpslolg. nasa.gov) Office of Special Counsel (htpeose-go¥) ‘Agency Financial Reports (hips:iiwww.nasa.govicontanlagency-inanciabeaports} Contact NASA (htps:twur.nasa goviaboucontactindex htm!)