Starship Asterisk*

Planet Hop from TRAPPIST-1e -- Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

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Are you looking for an exotic destination to visit this summer? Why not take a virtual trip to an Earth-size planet beyond our solar system with NASA's interactive Exoplanet Travel Bureau?

We live in a universe teeming with exoplanets, or planets outside our solar system. Unfortunately, even the nearest exoplanets are light-years away, so sending spacecraft and humans to these intriguing worlds remains a distant dream.

But on NASA's Exoplanet Exploration website, you can explore an imagined surface of an alien world via 360-degree, interactive visualizations. As you investigate each planet's surface, you'll discover fascinating features, like the blood-red sky of TRAPPIST-1d, or stand on a hypothetical moon of the massive planet Kepler-16b, which appears larger than either of the planet's two suns. The view from each planet's surface is an artist's impression based on the limited data that is available; no real photos of these planets exist.

The newest planet to feature this 360-degree surface visualization is Kepler-186f, an Earth-size planet orbiting a star much cooler and redder than the Sun. Scientists don't know if Kepler-186f has an atmosphere, but with the NASA visualization tool, you can see how the presence or absence of an atmosphere would change the view of the sky from the planet's surface. ...

bystander wrote: ↑Fri May 25, 2018 10:46 pm
Don't Panic! and don't forget your towel!

bystander wrote: ↑Mon May 28, 2018 7:19 pm 10 Ways to BBQ on an Exoplanet
NASA | Solar System Exploration | 2018 May 28

This Exoplanet Travel Bureau poster illustration shows futuristic explorers gliding in a protective bubble over the red-hot landscape of the exoplanet 55 Cancri e. Exoplanets are planets outside our solar system. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

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Explore the plethora of planets outside our solar system with new multimedia experiences from NASA's Exoplanet Exploration Program (ExEP). In addition to a new Exoplanet Travel Bureau poster celebrating a molten world called 55 Cancri e, space fans can enjoy a 360-degree visualization of the surface of the same planet, a multimedia journey into the life and death of planetary systems, and a major update to the popular Eyes on Exoplanets app.

Designed in the style of vintage travel posters, ExEP's popular Exoplanet Travel Bureau poster series imagines what it might be like to visit known planets outside our solar system, or exoplanets. Focusing on 55 Cancri e, a planet that may be covered in a lava ocean, the newest poster shows futuristic explorers gliding over the red-hot landscape in a protective bubble.

55 Cancri e is also now part of the Exoplanet Travel Bureau's 360-degree visualization tool, which enables you to take a virtual tour of what the planet's surface might look like, based on the limited data available (no photos of the planet exist). Seen as a massive fiery orb on the horizon, the planet's star is 65 times closer to 55 Cancri e than the Sun is to Earth. On the planet's cooler nightside, silicate vapor in the atmosphere may condense into sparkling clouds that reflect the lava below.

All of the 360-degree visualizations are viewable on desktop computers, mobile devices and through virtual reality headsets that work with smartphones.