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09-16-2017, 11:03 PM
This pitch-black 'hot Jupiter' orbits an alien star and is darker than asphalt
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A planet orbiting a star 1,400 light-years from Earth is darker than asphalt.*
New data from the Hubble Space Telescope shows that WASP-12b, which has a radius twice as large as Jupiter's, is an incredibly hot planet with a very low albedo—meaning that it's incredibly dark.
WASP-12b is known as a "hot Jupiter" because it's about the size of our solar system's largest planet, yet orbits very close to its star. That close distance is also probably responsible for the alien world's pitch-black color.*
SEE ALSO: Perhaps staring at this photo of a storm on Jupiter will help us all relax after a hard week (http://mashable.com/2017/08/04/little-red-spot-nasa-jupiter-photo/) Read more... (http://mashable.com/2017/09/15/wasp-12b-alien-planet-darker-than-asphalt/?utm_campaign=Mash-Prod-RSS-Feedburner-All-Partial&utm_cid=Mash-Prod-RSS-Feedburner-All-Partial)
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A planet orbiting a star 1,400 light-years from Earth is darker than asphalt.*
New data from the Hubble Space Telescope shows that WASP-12b, which has a radius twice as large as Jupiter's, is an incredibly hot planet with a very low albedo—meaning that it's incredibly dark.
WASP-12b is known as a "hot Jupiter" because it's about the size of our solar system's largest planet, yet orbits very close to its star. That close distance is also probably responsible for the alien world's pitch-black color.*
SEE ALSO: Perhaps staring at this photo of a storm on Jupiter will help us all relax after a hard week (http://mashable.com/2017/08/04/little-red-spot-nasa-jupiter-photo/) Read more... (http://mashable.com/2017/09/15/wasp-12b-alien-planet-darker-than-asphalt/?utm_campaign=Mash-Prod-RSS-Feedburner-All-Partial&utm_cid=Mash-Prod-RSS-Feedburner-All-Partial)
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