The Very Low Albedo of WASP-12b
A Planetary Atmosphere Acting Like a Star

An international team of researchers which I led analyzed new
Hubble observations of WASP-12b to search for light
reflected by the gas giant exoplanet. These observations show that
little-to-no light is reflected at optical wavelengths which tells us
that the planet would look as dark as fresh asphalt or charcoal,
if we could take a look at it. This provides interesting insight
into the atmospheric conditions of the planet's exceedingly hot
dayside.
Image Credit: NASA/ESA/G. Bacon