Image: Hot Gas-Giant Exoplanet WASP-43 b (MIRI Phase Curve) (IMAGE)

NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center

Image: Hot Gas-Giant Exoplanet WASP-43 b (MIRI Phase Curve)

Caption

This phase curve, captured by the MIRI low resolution spectrometer on NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, shows the change in brightness of the WASP-43 system over time as the planet orbits its star. The system appears brightest when the hot dayside of the planet is facing the telescope, just before and after it passes behind the star. The system grows dimmer as the planet continues its orbits and the nightside rotates into view. It brightens again after passing in front of the star as the dayside rotates back into view. WASP-43 b is a hot Jupiter roughly 280 light-years away, in the constellation Sextans.

 

Credit

Credits: Science: Taylor J. Bell (BAERI); Joanna Barstow (Open University); Michael Roman (University of Leicester) Graphic Design: NASA, ESA, CSA, Ralf Crawford (STScI)

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No restrictions.

License

Public Domain

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