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Exoplanet Tau Boötis b

by

Walter B. Myers/Novapix

Reference

a-exo99-00025

Date

2010-03-04

The extrasolar planet Tau Boötes b reigns over the airless, baked and battered terrain of a hypothetical moon. Tau Boötes b orbits very close to Tau Boötes, a type F7V star about 50 light years from the Earth. Tau Boötes b is believed to have about four times the mass of the planet Jupiter and orbits around its sun at the astonishing pace of once every 3.3 days. Tau Boötes b is so close to its host sun that the force of the solar wind may be enough to constantly blow off the planet's outer atmosphere.