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2 years ago

Travel to Exotic Destinations in our Galaxy!

The planets beyond our solar system – exoplanets – are so far away, often trillions of miles, that we don’t have the technology to truly see them. Even the best photos show the planets as little more than bright dots. We’ve confirmed more than 5,000 exoplanets, but we think there are billions. Space telescopes like Hubble aren’t able to take photos of these far-off worlds, but by studying them in different wavelengths of light (colors), we’ve learned enough about conditions on these planets that we can illustrate them.

A travel poster for the exoplanet 55 Cancri e. This bright, colorful poster is done in pinks, purples and orange hues. Two people are seen floating in a giant bubble behind a craft zooming across an ocean of hot lava. The purplish sky is filled with thick clouds of darker purples and grays with sparkles shining throughout. A planet appears in the sky like a crescent moon. The poster says, ‘’Lava life: Skies sparkle above a neverending ocean of lava.’’

We know, thanks to the now-retired Spitzer Space Telescope, that there is a thick atmosphere on a planet called 55 Cancri e about 40 light-years away. And Hubble found silicate vapor in the atmosphere of this rocky world. We also know it’s scorching-close to its Sun-like star, so … lava. Lots and lots of lava. This planet is just one of the many that the James Webb Space Telescope will soon study, telling us even more about the lava world!

You can take a guided tour of this planet (and others) and see 360-degree simulations at our new Exoplanet Travel Bureau.

Travel to the most exotic destinations in our galaxy, including:

Kepler-16b, a planet with two suns.

A vintage looking travel poster shows a human figure from behind, standing beneath two big and bright suns. The smaller one of the pair is bright orange and the larger one is yellowish white. The person is casting two shadows because of the two stars. The person is looking toward rock formations that look like those found in the Southwest US. The poster is done in red, orange and white colors and says, ‘’Relax on Kepler-16b, where your shadow always has company.’’

Then there’s PSO J318.5-22, a world with no sun that wanders the galaxy alone. The nightlife would never end on a planet without a star.

A travel poster for the exoplanet PSO J318.5-22 shows a man and a woman in the foreground in futuristic party clothes and elegant space helmets. Behind them is a giant planet with advanced looking technology and hardware on spaceships floating nearby. A group of partygoers are behind the man and the woman and all are standing on an outside deck like the ones seen surrounding the background spaceships. All of the partygoers are in fancy dresses, tuxedos and slim space helmets. The text on the poster says, ‘’Visit the planet with no star. PSO PSO J318.5-22, where the nightlife never ends.’’

TRAPPIST-1e, which will also be studied by the Webb Space Telescope, is one of seven Earth-sized planets orbiting a star about 40 light-years from Earth. It’s close enough that, if you were standing on this exoplanet, you could see our Sun as a star in the Leo constellation! You can also see it on the poster below: look for a yellow star to the right of the top person’s eye.

A travel poster for the exoplanet TRAPPIST-1e. A woman and children are gathered around a train window looking out excitedly. Through the window you can see six large exoplanets in the sky like giant moons. The inside of the train car is dark to better show the view outside, where everything is bathed in the red light from its red dwarf star. The sky is also filled with stars including the three-star line of Orion and the Leo constellation, which contains our yellow sun as a star. The poster says, ‘’Planet hop to TRAPPIST-1e, voted number1 habitable zone vacation spot.’’

We haven’t found life beyond Earth (yet) but we’re looking. Meanwhile, we can imagine the possibility of red grass and other plants on Kepler-186f, a planet orbiting a red dwarf star.

A travel poster for the exoplanet Kepler-186f shows two humans standing amid abundant plant life. There are trees and grasses, most of them colored red. There is also grass colored green. The two people stand in front of a white picket fence that cuts across the poster that says, ‘’Kepler-186f, where the grass is always redder on the other side.’’

We can also imagine what it might be like to skydive on a super-Earth about seven times more massive than our home planet. You would fall about 35% faster on a super-Earth like HD 40307g, making for a thrilling ride!

A travel poster for the exoplanet HD 40307g shows a skydiver high above a blue planet. It says, ‘’Experience the gravity of a super earth.’’ The poster is done in greens, blues and yellows. The blue sky is peeking out behind jagged gradients of yellow. The skydiver is wearing a futuristic suit with a parachute on their back. There are gradients of yellow colors surrounding the giant planet with streaks of light streaming toward the planet.

Any traveler is going to want to pick up souvenirs, and we have you covered. You can find free downloads of all the posters here and others! What are you waiting for? Come explore with us!

A traveler is seen on a travel poster for the first exoplanets. The person is sitting at a table covered in postcards overlooking a window filled with a view of a star filled sky. One of the postcards says 51 Pegasi b, which was the first exoplanet discovered orbiting a sun-like star. The poster says, ‘’Greetings from your first exoplanet.’’

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Image credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech