Image: Heather Knutson holds Jupiter over Bunsen burner

Description: If astronomers could somehow pull planets out of the sky and analyze them in the laboratory, it might look something like this artistically altered image illustrating new research from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. The infrared observatory allows astronomers to study closely the atmospheres of hot Jupiter planets -- those outside our solar system that orbit near the blistering heat of their stars. In this image, an artistic version of a hot Jupiter inspired by computer simulations has been inserted into a photo showing a Spitzer researcher, Heather Knutson, in a laboratory at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, where she works. In reality, Knutson does not work in a lab, nor wear a lab coat and goggles, but scrutinizes telescope data from her office computer.
Title: Heather Knutson holds Jupiter over Bunsen burner
Credit: An Astronomer's Fantasy: Planets in the Lab
Author: Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Usage Terms: Public domain
License: Public domain
Attribution Required?: No