Photo Agency - Astronomy - Space - Nature

> Exoplanet Tau Boötis b

Exoplanet Tau Boötis b

author: Walter B. Myers/Novapix

reference: a-exo99-00025

Image Size 300 DPI: 33 * 25 cm

The extrasolar planet Tau Boötes b reigns over the airless, baked and battered terrain of a hypothetical moon. Tau Boötes b orbits very close to Tau Boötes, a type F7V star about 50 light years from the Earth. Tau Boötes b is believed to have about four times the mass of the planet Jupiter and orbits around its sun at the astonishing pace of once every 3.3 days. Tau Boötes b is so close to its host sun that the force of the solar wind may be enough to constantly blow off the planet's outer atmosphere.

Keywords for this photo:

ASTRONOMY - BOOTES - EXOPLANET - EXTRASOLAR PLANET - ILLUSTRATION - PLANET - SATELLITE - TAU BOO - TAU BOOTIS - TAU BOOTIS B -