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Visions of the Future Video - exploring exoplanets (illustrations)

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On March 21, 2022, the number of known exoplanets passed 5,000 according to the NASA Exoplanet Archive. This animation and sonification tracks humanity's discovery of the planets beyond our solar s...
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Video infographic showing numbers of exoplanet discoveries over time.
5,000 Exoplanets: Listen to the Sounds of Discovery (NASA Data Sonification)
This 360-degree animation and sonification tracks humanity's discovery of the planets beyond our solar system over time.
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360 infographic video (youtube) showing discoveries over time
5,000 Exoplanets: Listen to the Sounds of Discovery (360 Video)
NASA has confirmed more than 5,000 worlds beyond our solar system during 30 years of exploration. There are billions of exoplanets in our galaxy alone, so many more discoveries await.
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Video that covers how we've reached 5000 confirmed exoplanet discoveries and what the future may hold.
NASA Confirms 5,000 Exoplanets -- and Counting
What do planets outside our solar system, or exoplanets, look like? A variety of possibilities are shown in this illustration. 
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Illustration of exoplanet types
Exoplanet Types - Illustration
The more than 5,000 exoplanets confirmed in our galaxy so far include a variety of types – some that are similar to planets in our solar system, others vastly different.
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Infographic of exoplanet types
5000 Exoplanets Infographic
¿Puedes oír los gritos de este exoplaneta?
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En este póster, un exoplaneta se acerca a su estrella naranja en órbita. Está incómodamente cerca del ardiente resplandor. Su atmósfera brilla y se quema, provocando un tortuoso viaje alrededor de la estrella.
El planeta asado
Can you hear this exoplanet screaming?
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In this poster, an exoplanet approaches its orange star in orbit. It is uncomfortably close to the fiery blaze. Its atmosphere is glowing and roasting, causing a torturous journey around the star.
The Roasted Planet Poster
¡Esta fuerza escalofriante te dejará temblando de terror!​
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Este póster muestra un murciélago verde siniestro que emerge del cosmos, empujando objetos como galaxias y estrellas hacia el vacío del espacio exterior.
Energía oscura
This bone-chilling force will leave you shivering alone in terror!
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This poster pictures an ominous, green bat that emerges from the cosmos, pushing objects like galaxies and stars further apart into the void of outer space.
Dark Energy Poster
El telescopio espacial James Webb de la NASA es una verdadera maravilla tecnológica.
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illustrated poster depicting the James Webb Space Telescope against a colorful geometric background
El Telescopio Espacial James Webb
The James Webb Space Telescope is the world's premier space science observatory. Webb will solve mysteries in our solar system, look beyond to distant worlds around other stars, and probe the myste...
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illustrated poster depicting the James Webb Space Telescope against a colorful geometric background
James Webb Space Telescope Poster
In space for more than 30 years, Hubble truly is NASA’s most versatile, intrepid explorer. It brought the cosmos down to Earth.
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illustration of the Hubble Space Telescope with whimsical galaxies, planets, and stars
Hubble Space Telescope Poster
Lanzado en 1990, el telescopio espacial Hubble es un gran observatorio espacial que ha revolucionado la astronomía.
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illustration of the Hubble Space Telescope with whimsical galaxies, planets, and stars
El Telescopio Espacial Hubble
In this artist's concept, a distant, life-bearing world orbits two stars instead of one, seen from the surface in a pink sky – yet in some ways still might be considered similar to Earth.
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Artist's rendering of exoplanet surface
Marble in the Sky: the Hunt for Another Earth
There are water worlds, lava planets, egg-shaped worlds, planets with multiple suns, and even planets with no sun at all! What can we learn from this weird, wondrous variety?
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There are water worlds, lava planets, egg-shaped worlds, planets with multiple suns, and even planets with no sun at all! What can we learn from all this weird, wondrous variety?
Video: Exoplanets: Weird, Wondrous Worlds
Some telescopes capture starlight shining through the atmospheres of exoplanets. Gases in these atmospheres can then be revefaled.
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Spectroscopy Infographic
Spectroscopy Infographic
Space telescopes have pioneered the discovery of planets orbiting other stars in our galaxy; even more powerful versions will measure these planets' atmospheres in the future.   
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NASA’s array of technological marvels includes the Kepler Space Telescope, now retired, and its successor, TESS, the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, still operating on an extended mission. Both were built to hunt for those shadows – a tiny dip in starlight as an “exoplanet,” a planet beyond our solar system, crosses the face of its parent star. Finding exoplanet shadows is called the “transit” method.
The Searchers: How Will NASA Look for Signs of Life Beyond Earth?
Every star has a habitable zone, but where that zone lies is different for stars of different sizes and brightness.
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There's a helpful concept we use for the distance from a star where you might find planets with liquid water on their surfaces – water being essential for life as we know it. It's called the habitable zone. Every star has one, but they're not all equal.
Video: What Is the Habitable Zone?
When we describe different types of exoplanets – planets outside our solar system – what do we mean by "hot Jupiters," "warm Neptunes," and "super-Earths"? 
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When we describe different types of exoplanets – planets outside our solar system – what do we mean by "hot Jupiters," "warm Neptunes," and "super-Earths"?
Video: Exoplanet Types: Worlds Beyond Our Solar System
Acechando en nuestra galaxia, a aproximadamente 6.000 años luz de la Tierra, hay un monstruo llamado Cygnus X-1.
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Un agujero negro con un disco de material a su alrededor consume y estira las palabras del título encima de él.
Devorado por la gravedad
Lurking in our galaxy, approximately 6,000 light-years from Earth, is a monster black hole.
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A black hole with a disc of material surrounding it consumes and stretches the words of the title above it.
Devoured by Gravity Poster
Exoplanets – planets outside our solar system – are everywhere. At NASA, we're studying exoplanets to learn all about their weirdness, their variety, and all the fascinating things they can tell us...
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An animated video from NASA showing how we find exoplanets, the alien worlds we know beyond our solar system, and how we search for alien life.
Video: What Is an Exoplanet?
Scientists using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope have found evidence that a planet orbiting a distant star may have lost its atmosphere but gained a second one through volcanic activity. 
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Scientists using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope have found evidence that a planet orbiting a distant star may have lost its atmosphere but gained a second one through volcanic activity.
Distant Planet May Be On Its Second Atmosphere, NASA's Hubble Finds
A rocky exoplanet GJ 1132 b, similar in size and density to Earth, possesses a hazy atmosphere made up of volcanic gases. Scientists say GJ 1132 b, orbiting a red-dwarf star about 41 light-years aw...
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A rocky exoplanet GJ 1132 b, similar in size and density to Earth, possesses a hazy atmosphere made up of volcanic gases. Scientists say GJ 1132 b, orbiting a red-dwarf star about 41 light-years away, has some features in common with worlds in our own solar system as well as vast differences.
A Super-Earth With Plenty of Atmosphere
For a planet, the habitable zone is the distance from a star that allows liquid water to persist on its surface – as long as that planet has a suitable atmosphere.
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In our solar system, Earth sits comfortably inside the Sun’s habitable zone. Broiling planet Venus is within the inner edge, while refrigerated Mars is near the outer boundary.
What Is the Habitable Zone?

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.
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Strange New Worlds

Explore an interactive gallery of some of the most intriguing and exotic planets discovered so far.
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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.
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What is an Exoplanet?

    • Overview
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The Search For Life

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Science Writer: Pat Brennan
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