We are not alone. Scientists have discovered a second blue planet in the Universe, although this one is decidedly inhospitable and unlikely to support life.
Call it the deep blue dot. For the first time, scientists have seen the visible color of a distant alien world. The exoplanet — called HD 189733b — is 63 light-years from Earth and a "deep cobalt blue," with raging storms of glass rain and super-fast winds, scientists say.
The alien planet's blue color was pinned down using observations from the Hubble Space Telescope. Although the planet might be the same color as Earth from space, scientists think that HD 189733b is a "hot Jupiter" — a gas giant planet that orbits very close to its star. It takes 2.2 Earth days for the planet to travel fully around its sun.
The planet is a gas giant, similar to Jupiter, and orbits very close to its sun, meaning that its temperatures are a scorching 1,000C or higher. Extreme winds pelt silicate particles sideways, which scatter blue light.