An artist’s concept shows a cloudy Jupiter-like planet, HD 209458b or “Osiris” that orbits very close to its fiery hot star. NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope was recently used to capture spectra, or molecular fingerprints, of two “hot Jupiter” worlds like the one depicted here. This is the first time a spectrum has ever been obtained for an exoplanet, or a planet beyond our solar system.

Photo Credit: NASA