The atmosphere of the exoplanet orbiting AF Leporis
This video shows infrared observations of a Jupiter-like planet around the star AF Leporis taken with the SPHERE instrument at ESO’s Very Large Telescope in Chile. The planet is the bright source towards the centre-left of the image. Molecules in the atmosphere of this planet absorb light at different colours or wavelengths, which makes the planet appear brighter or fainter as the video scans through different wavelengths.
It was featured as part of the ESO Picture of the Week "Spotting a hidden exoplanet" on 20 February 2023: https://www.eso.org/public/images/pot...
Credit:
ESO/De Rosa et al.
More information and video download options: https://www.eso.org/public/videos/pot...