Hubble Science main-page
• The Hubble Deep Fields
• Measuring the age and the size of the Universe
• The lives of stars
• The solar neighbourhood
• The study of exoplanets and proto-planetary discs
• Black Holes, Quasars and Active Galaxies
• The formation of Stars
• The composition of the Universe
• Spyglasses into the Universe – Gravitational lenses
• Europe & Hubble

The study of exoplanets and proto-planetary discs

Hubble’s high resolution has been indispensable in the investigation of the gas and dust disks, dubbed proplyds, around the newly born stars in the Orion Nebula. The proplyds may very well be young planetary systems in the early stages of creation.

Right-A proplyd in the Orion Nebula

The first detection of an atmosphere around an extrasolar planet was seen in a gas-giant planet orbiting the yellow, Sun-like star HD 209458, 150 light-years from Earth. The planet was not seen directly by Hubble.

Instead, the presence of sodium as well as evaporating hydrogen, oxygen and carbon was detected in light filtered through the planet's atmosphere when it passed in front of its star as seen from Earth.

The details revealed by Hubble are superior to anything seen to date with ground-based instruments, and thanks to Hubble we have visual proof today that dusty disks around young stars are common.

Hubble has been instrumental in studying these extra-solar planets but it has also helped to detect them as well. Today Hubble continues to expand our understanding of these worlds around other stars.