NASA launches visual tours of exoplanets through its Exoplanet Travel Bureau. In its post, Independent UK said visitors could access the tours by visiting NASA's Exoplanet website. It is similar to a virtual museum tour where visitors listen to a curator, while navigating the website.
Hubble Space Telescope
NASA Exoplanet Travel Bureau Features
The guided tour allows visitors to visit Kepler-16b, 55 Cancri e, 51 Pegasi b, TRAPPIST-1e, Kepler-186f, HD 40307g, and PSO J318.5-22.
Visitors also can explore the surface of the exoplanets. The travel bureau website provides an artist's impression of what an exoplanet surface might look like based on limited data. Some surface exploration allows the visitors to add the atmosphere feature to the impression. HD 40307g and PSO J318.5-22 don't have the explore the surface feature.
NASA Exoplanet posted on Twitter about the guided tours telling everyone that each tour is based on real science.
The website offers downloadable posters where visitors can choose from different file sizes and types. The files are available for screen, print, and wallpaper/ digital painting backgrounds. It also offers a downloadable line drawing version of the poster, which can be a fun activity for children and adults.
Spanish-speaking visitors can enjoy the guided tour as each exoplanet has an En Español version.
The website also features different telescopes such as the Spitzer space telescope, Keppler space telescope, TESS space telescope, Hubble space telescope, James Webb telescope, and NuSTAR. Yet, at this moment, visitors can only explore four telescopes in 3D. All telescopes have a downloadable poster and an En Español version.
Scientists have found more than 5,000 worlds outside of our solar system through NASA's Kepler and Tess spacecraft, some of which may one day turn out to be habitable by extraterrestrial life.
On the other hand, scientists will have the resources they need to start investigating some of these worlds in greater detail through NASA's James Webb Space Telescope. The initial images will be made public on July 12. This will give information in determining if Earth life is unique in the universe.
Exoplanet Travel Bureau Features answer the question of the curious minds and allows them to explore space without spending billions of money and traveling a long distance.
Consider Trappist 1e, an Earth-sized exoplanet that is little over 39 light-years away from Earth and orbits in its star's habitable zone. Voyager 1, which is now the farthest object constructed by humans and is moving at a speed of about 35,000 mph, will take more than 40,000 years to travel less than half that distance.
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NASA Exoplanet Website's Feature and Information About the Life Outside Earth
NASA's Exoplanet website provides in-depth information about the list of discoveries beyond the solar system. According to the website, the latest planet discovery is a Super Earth named HD 260655 b. It has a mass of 2.14 Earths, orbits its star in 2.8 days, and is 0.02933 AU away from it. NASA discovered the Super Earth in 2022. There are different planet types based on NASA's classification, which include Gas Giant, Neptune-like, Terrestrial, and Super Earth.
Scientists can also access the website as the website provides information about the Exoplanet Exploration Program and the Science Mission Directorate.
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