Remember the memorable double sunset on the desert planet Tatooine in the original Star Wars? As it turns out, such a vista isn't unimaginable – if you can get to Kepler-16b, an exoplanet about 196 light years away. Of course, if you did get there, you might be disappointed to find that the planet is actually a gas giant, or that its temperature is close to that of dry ice.
One of a thousand such exoplanets recently discovered by NASA, Kepler-16b has been commemorated in a poster designed by Joby Harris, David Delgado and Dan Goods. In a style reminiscent of early 20th-century travel advertisements, the poster is part of a series that playfully celebrates the exciting discoveries that have been made by Kepler telescope, launched in 2009 to discover Earth-like planets. Published under the guise of the fictional "Exoplanet Travel Bureau," the posters help bring the excitement of the project into legible terms for us layfolk.
"Experience the gravity of HD 40307G," a "super planet" with a volume twice that of Earth. An astro-tourist in a wingsuit soars down to this planet, which either is a rocky planet like ours or is covered in a thick layer of ice and gas.
The first Earth-sized planet discovered in the "habitable range" of its star, Kepler-186f could have liquid water. Its sun is a red dwarf that emits red wavelength-photons, which means that if vegetal life exists on the planet, it could have a much different color palette than we're used to.
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