Picture of the Day

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The star cataloged as HD 189733 is only 63 light-years away. Its location is shown in this deep image of the sky. Considering the many bright stars, nebulae, and star clusters in this region that are more familiar to sky gazers, HD 189733 may not seem to be remarkable, but it is known to have at least one hot Jupiter-sized planet orbiting very close. Because the planet regularly eclipses its parent star, astronomers can study starlight that passes directly through the planet’s atmosphere and identify molecules.

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