Yesterday we posted about three awesome new posters commissioned by NASA. Well, it turns out the agency had more up its sleeves. The gallery above contains the whole collection, including a few exoplanet posters that were released last year.
The universe is full of interesting places to travel! Now all we have to do is figure out how to get there.
A romantic getaway for Valentine’s?
Although the surface of Venus is insufferably hot, NASA thinks we could build cities in its clouds.
Ahoy ye
Saturn’s largest moon has lakes and rivers of liquid ethane and methane. Just don’t light any candles!
Water world
The icy shell of this Jovian moon is inhospitable, but inside it contains a deep ocean that scientists think may be capable of supporting life. Makes a great trip for avid scuba divers!
Staycation
It’s not very adventurous, but man is it comfortable.
The Jovian Lights
Jupiter’s auroras are larger than our entire planet. That’s because as Jupiter spins, it pulls its giant magnetosphere with it, which generates electricity. When that voltage slams into molecules in Jupiter’s atmosphere, it creates the colored lights that we call auroras. The fifth planet’s auroral lights are the biggest and brightest in our solar system, but they pale in comparison to one faraway brown dwarf.
Pit stop
Ceres is the first dwarf planet mankind ever visited (sorry, Pluto). It’s the biggest rock in the asteroid belt, and although it’s a little desolate, it’s a nice place to stop on the long, long ride to Jupiter.
Cold faithful
The geysers near Enceladus’ south pole spout frozen water vapor miles high into the sky.
There’s lots to do on Mars
With NASA planning to set up permanent settlements there, Mars may one day be like a home away from home.
Why choose just one?
The “Grand Tour” package follows Voyager’s journey to four planets.
Hot Jupiters
The first exoplanets that scientists found changed the way we saw our place in the universe, and we’re still learning new things from them. 51 Pegasi b is about half the mass of Jupiter, and orbits so close to its star that its year is just 4.2 days long. Before the exoplanet was discovered in 1995, scientists didn’t think it was even possible for a big gas giant to orbit so close to its star.
What a trip
The first Earth-sized exoplanet discovered in the habitable zone of its star, Kepler 186f orbits a star that’s small and red. If any plant-like things inhabit Kepler 186f, they’ll probably be adapted to utilize those red wavelengths, so they’d be colored quite strangely.
Act out your Star Wars fantasies
This planet orbits two stars, which means it has two suns–just like “Tatooine” in Star Wars.
Can you feel the pull?
HD 40307g has 8 times the mass of Earth, giving it a much stronger gravitational pull.