Even though 51 Pegasi b is neither a word of mouth nor a habitable planet in any way, it became, by its discovery in 1995, the starting point of a wild and crazy hunt for exoplanets (planets orbiting a star outside our solar system). One had guessed that exoplanets existed. But getting it this proof gave violent blood to the tooth. 51 Pegasi B is 50 light years away, approx. half size of Jupiter (but still classified as a gas giant) and circling incredibly close to its star. In fact, so close that it is only four days to reach a round. Imagine it - a year that lasts only four days! A season for every day - you can talk about changing weather!
The NASA posters abide by all advertisements for travel and destinations - and many of them have a nice retro design. This poster no exception! The stars, which are glimpsed through the pane, the postcards and the text "greetings from your first exoplanet" are clear references to travel posters. But if you look for an extra time, they are a little more than just that - in the pile there are references to the other posters in this series as well as previous poster series from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory department. The poster Kepler-16b is best seen, where the bottom of the poster can be seen. In this way, this poster creates a connection in the series, in addition to the recurring theme and the retro references. For NASA, it is important to inspire and motivate people to think beyond our earthly and technological limitations. Their desire is that their posters will function as small portals through which our imagination can step into outer space. The fact that fantasy trips rarely result in actual postcards is less important.
As already mentioned, 51 Pegasi b is not a particularly odd name. Therefore, the planet has also been given new names for several rounds. The planet lies in a constellation called Pegasus, and 51 Pegasi b refers to the planet's position here. Already the following year, in 1996, the name "Bellerophon" was proposed, in an attempt to continue the tradition of naming planets from Greek mythology. Bellerophon was, according to mythology, the one who rode the winged horse Pegasus, as the planet's constellation is named.
