Skip Navigation
menu close modal

Multimedia

Coronagraph explanation 2 minutes

An animation explaining how the hybrid Lyot coronagraph works.

Page Updated: December 15, 2022

Related

Scientists used the James Webb Space Telescope to observe the exoplanet WASP-18 b and its star before, during and after the planet was eclipsed. 
More
An infographic shows how a planet moving in front of a star in transit tells us different things as does the exoplanet traveling behind its star in an eclipse.
Exoplanet Eclipses and Transits for WASP-18 b
Researchers made a brightness map, tracing the glow from hot regions of WASP-18 b as it slipped behind, and reappeared from, its star.
More
A wide shot shows the planet WASP-18 b rapidly orbiting its star, WASP-18. Time slows down and the camera zooms in on the planet. The planet starts to slowly move behind its star. An animated plot, displaying the eclipse data, is seen on the right side of the screen. It shows the light dipping as the planet passes behind the star. The planet continues to be eclipsed by its star on the left side of the screen. The planet has now been fully eclipsed by its star.
WASP-18 b: Animation of an Exoplanet Eclipse
The Webb Telescope directly observed water vapor on WASP-18 b, a gas giant exoplanet, in even relatively small amounts in an atmospheric spectrum.
More
An infographic headlined, Exoplanet WASP-18 b Atmospheric Spectrum and Detection of Water shows a plot of measured emission from the planet, with water molecules, labeled water features. The vertical axis is relative brightness and the horizontal axis is wavelength in microns and it runs from .8, 1.0, 1.4, 2.0, and 3.0. The plotted data points are higher at the far left, then drops to smaller peaks and dips along the plot.
WASP-18 b Atmospheric Spectrum from James Webb Space Telescope
WASP-18 b is a gas giant exoplanet 10 times more massive than Jupiter that orbits its star in just 23 hours. Researchers used NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope to study the planet as it moved behin...
More
An illustration shows a yellow-orange exoplanet in a three-quarter view against the star-smattered black of space. The planet's gaseous atmosphere fades from a very bright dayside to a much dimmer nightside and there are subtle bands going north-south. It is at its brightest to the right of center.
WASP-18 b Illustration

Explore Alien Worlds

Exoplanet Travel Bureau

This set of travel posters envision a day when the creativity of scientists and engineers will allow us to do things we can only dream of now.
More

Strange New Worlds

Explore an interactive gallery of some of the most intriguing and exotic planets discovered so far.
More
A planetary tour through time. The ancients debated the existence of planets beyond our own; now we know of thousands.

Historic Timeline

A planetary tour through time. The ancients debated the existence of planets beyond our own; now we know of thousands.
More