Follow this link to skip to the main content
NASA Ames Research Center
RSS Send
Home > News > NASA Kepler News



Hubble Space Telescope's One Millionth Science Observation is of Kepler-2b
07.04.2011
artist's concept of the extrasolar planet HAT-P-7b
This is an artist's concept of the extrasolar planet HAT-P-7b. It is a "hot Jupiter" class planet (1.4 times Jupiter's diameter) orbiting a star that is much hotter than our Sun, about 1,044 light-years (320 parsecs) distant in the constellation Cygnus at celestial coordinates R.A. 19h 28m 59s and Dec. +47°58' 11". Hubble Space Telescope's millionth science observation was trained on this planet to look for the presence of water vapor and to study the planet's atmospheric structure via spectroscopy. Planets with orbits inclined nearly edge-on to Earth can be observed passing in front of and behind their stars. This allows for the planetary atmospheres to be studied by Hubble's spectrometers. Hubble's unique capabilities allow astronomers to do follow-up observations of exoplanets to characterize the composition and structure of their atmospheres. Hubble's one millionth exposure was July 4, 2011, 1427 minutes long, from the WFC3/IR Instrument. See http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2011/22/image/a/. Credit: NASA, ESA, and G. Bacon (STScI)
On Monday, July 4, the NASA's Hubble Space Telescope logged its one millionth science observation during a search for water in an exoplanet's atmosphere 1,000 light-years away. Although Hubble is best known for its stunning imagery of the cosmos, the millionth observation is a spectroscopic measurement, where light is divided into its component colors. These color patterns can reveal the chemical composition of cosmic sources. Hubble's millionth exposure is of the planet HAT-P-7b, a gas giant planet larger than Jupiter orbiting a star hotter than our sun. HAT-P-7b, also known as Kepler 2b, has been studied by NASA's planet-hunting Kepler observatory after it was discovered by ground-based observations. Hubble now is being used to analyze the chemical composition of the planet's atmosphere. For details about the exoplanet Kepler 2b, including an animation of its orbit, visit:

http://kepler.nasa.gov/Mission/discoveries/kepler2b/

"We are looking for the spectral signature of water vapor. This is an extremely precise observation and it will take months of analysis before we have an answer," said Drake Deming of the University of Maryland and NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. "Hubble demonstrated it is ideally suited for characterizing the atmospheres of exoplanets, and we are excited to see what this latest targeted world will reveal."

See Full Press Release at Hubblesite.

Return to News Archive