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Smallest exoplanets compared to Earth and Mars

Smallest exoplanets compared to Earth and Mars

This chart compares the smallest known exoplanets, or planets orbiting outside the solar system, to our own planets Mars and Earth.

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NASA/JPL-Caltech

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A transmission spectrum made from a single observation from the Webb Space Telescope reveals atmospheric characteristics of the hot gas giant exoplanet WASP-96 b. 
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Graphic showing atmospheric components of distant gas giant planet.
Exoplanet WASP-96 b Atmospheric Characteristics
If astronomers could somehow pull planets out of the sky and analyze them in the laboratory, it might look something like this artistically altered image illustrating new research from NASA's Spitz...
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An Astronomer's Fantasy: Planets in the Lab
An Astronomer's Fantasy: Planets in the Lab
Audience: 3rd grade and older  This slide shows how dramatically different the planets in our solar system are in size.
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This slide shows how dramatically different the planets in our solar system are in size
Comparison of Planet Sizes: Solar Systems
During 9.6 years in orbit, the Kepler space telescope observed more than half a million stars and discovered more than 2,600 planets. See the mission by the numbers.
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Kepler was in orbit 9.6 years, used 3.12 gallons of fuel, observed 530,506 stars and led to the discovery of 2,662 planets.
NASA's Kepler Mission By the Numbers
This artist's illustration gives an impression of how common planets are around the stars in the Milky Way.
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Planets everywhere
Planets everywhere
Observed transit depths and theoretical models for GJ 1214 b
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Observed transit for GJ 1214 b
Observed transit for GJ 1214 b
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)
Astronomers were elated to find clear skies on a Neptune-size planet called HAT-P-11b, as illustrated here. Without clouds to block their view, they were able to identify water vapor molecules in t...
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Seeing Starlight Through a Planet's Rim (Artist's Concept)
Seeing Starlight Through a Planet's Rim (Artist's Concept)
This artist's concept shows a brown dwarf surrounded by a swirling disk of planet-building dust.
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Solar System in the Making
Solar System in the Making
The first planet to have its clouds mapped showed us what weather looked like on a planet outside our solar system.
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Infographic: Planet Kepler-7b, cloud mapped
Infographic: Profile of planet Kepler-7b
The artist's conception shows a hypothetical planet with two moons orbiting in the habitable zone of a red dwarf star.
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Red Dwarf Planet
Red Dwarf Planet
This chart locates the fifth-magnitude star GJ 504, also known as 59 Virginis, which is visible to the unaided eye from suburban skies.
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Finding GJ504 in the night sky
Finding GJ504 in the night sky
This artist's concept shows the searing-hot gas planet WASP-12b (orange orb) and its star.
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Hot, Carbon-Rich Planet
Hot, Carbon-Rich Planet
This image from NASA's Kepler spacecraft shows the telescope's field of view taken in a new demonstration mode in late October. A new mission concept, dubbed K2, would continue Kepler's search for ...
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NASA Kepler's Second Light
NASA Kepler's Second Light
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.
Video: 5,000 Exoplanets: Listen to the Sounds of Discovery (NASA Data Sonification)
An artist's impression of a red supergiant engulfing a Jupiter-like planet as it expands.
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Hungry Red Giant
Hungry Red Giant
This artist concept illustrates how a massive collision of objects, perhaps as large as the planet Pluto, smashed together to create the dust ring around the nearby star Vega. New observations from...
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Massive Smash-Up at Vega
Massive Smash-Up at Vega
Planets having atmospheres rich in helium may be common in our galaxy, according to a new theory based on data from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. These planets would be around the mass of Neptune...
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Helium-Shrouded Planets (Artist's Concept)
Helium-Shrouded Planets (Artist's Concept)
The artist's concept depicts Kepler-62e, a super-Earth-size planet in the habitable zone of a star smaller and cooler than the sun, located about 1,200 light-years from Earth in the constellation L...
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Kepler-62e (Artist Concept)
Kepler-62e (Artist Concept)
Relative sizes of Kepler habitable zone planets discovered as of 2013 April 18. Except for Earth, these are artists' renditions.
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Lining Kepler Habitable Zone Planets Up
Lining Kepler Habitable Zone Planets Up
ESO’s VLT identified our Sun's oldest twin and provides new clues about stars that may host terrestrial rocky planets.
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The life cycle of a Sun-like star (annotated)
The life cycle of a Sun-like star (annotated)
An unusual, methane-free world is partially eclipsed by its star in this artist's concept.
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Exotic Exoplanet
Exotic Exoplanet
This artist's concept illustrates an icy planet-forming disk around a young star called TW Hydrae, located about 175 light-years away in the Hydra, or Sea Serpent, constellation.
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Misty Star in the Sea Serpent
Misty Star in the Sea Serpent
Planet Janssen, or 55 Cancri e, orbits a star called Copernicus only 41 light years away. 
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An artistic illustration of the surface of 55 Cancri e showing a couple in a protective bubble, suspended by a futuristic balloon over a global surface of lava, under dark, sparkling skies.
55 Cancri e: Skies Sparkle Above a Never-Ending Ocean of Lava
This diagram compares the planets of our inner solar system to Kepler-186, a five-planet star system about 500 light-years from Earth in the constellation Cygnus. The five planets of Kepler-186 orb...
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Kepler-186 and the Solar System
Kepler-186 and the Solar System

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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