Free Astronomy Magazine March-April 2024

40 MARCH-APRIL 2024 ASTRO PUBLISHING than previously observed. Named WASP-69b, scientists have studied this Jupiter-sized planet in the past, focusing on its escaping atmosphere and observing only a small trail of helium gas. But during a press con- ference at the January 2024 Meeting of the American Astronomical Soci- ety, a University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)-led team of re- searchers announced that new Keck Observatory data reveal the tail is at by W. M. Keck Observatory Nicolás Lira N ew data from W. M. Keck Observatory on Maunakea, Hawai ‘ i Island confirms exo- planet WASP-69b, known for its es- caping atmosphere, is forming a comet-like tail that is even longer WASP-69b’s surprisingly long comet-like tail I n the background, an artist’s im- pression of exoplanet WASP-69b orbiting its host star. Below, an ani- mation showing WASP-69b’s escap- ing atmosphere, which produces a planetary wind that interacts with the stellar wind from its host star. This interaction creates a long comet-like tail that extends over 350,000 miles long. [W. M. Keck Ob- servatory/Adam Makarenko].