NASA SVS Eroding Exoplanet
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Planet HD 189733b orbits a star about 63 light-years away. The world is a gas giant similar to Jupiter, but about 14 percent larger and more massive. In 2010, researchers using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope watched HD 189733b as it moved in front of its host star. Sixteen months later they looked again, but this time something was different—at least 1,000 tons of gas were leaving the planet's atmosphere every second. The question was: Why? Just hours earlier, NASA’s Swift satellite saw the planet's star unleash a powerful eruption known as a stellar flare. Because the planet is so big and orbits its star in close proximity, the blast had an outsized effect, sending streams of atoms racing away from its atmosphere at speeds greater than 300,000 mph. Watch the video to learn more.
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NASA SVS Hubble, Swift Detect First-ever Changes in an Exoplanet
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Ask Ethan: Are 'super-Earths' really the most common planets in
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NASA SVS
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NASA SVS
![](https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a012800/a012806/StarObscure_Plane_v06_00333.jpg)
NASA SVS Exoplanets
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Exoplanet Exploration: Planets Beyond our Solar System
![](https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014000/a014022/14022_VOYAGER_YOUTUBE_PRINT.jpg)
NASA SVS
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Exoplanet Program: Exoplanet Program
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Hubble detects helium in the atmosphere of an exoplanet for the
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Hubble Space Telescope 2019 - eoPortal
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Exoplanet Exploration: Planets Beyond our Solar System
![](https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a012800/a012884/TESS_Orbit_Still_print.jpg)
NASA SVS Exoplanets
![](https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014500/a014510/14510_VAPOR_WIDE_PRINT.jpg)
NASA SVS
![](https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a030000/a030900/a030998/1-SMD-FLEET_MASTER_11_23_2020_print.jpg)
NASA SVS TRAPPIST-1 Exoplanet Lineup
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Exoplanet Exploration: Planets Beyond our Solar System