Universe & space

Discovery of TrES-2b

November 2006

TrES-2b is a hot Jupiter, a giant planet orbiting very close to its star, found in 2006 by the Trans-Atlantic Exoplanet Survey. It orbits a sun-like star in the constellation Draco in a little over two days, passing in front of it as seen from Earth, which allows astronomers to measure its size. The planet was the first to be found in the field of view of NASA's Kepler telescope. In 2011 observations by Kepler showed that it reflects less than one per cent of the light striking it, which made it one of the darkest known planets, darker than coal or black paint.

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