'Hot Jupiter' Planet HD 189733b Has Rotten Egg Smell

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People of Earth are in luck they are 64 light-years away from a planet that is scorching hot and smells like rotten eggs, according to researchers.

A study published on Monday in the journal Nature found something new concerning HD 189733b: its pungent smell. The new data was found from the James Webb Space Telescope, including the detection of a trace of hydrogen sulfide, which is known for its rotten egg odor at low concentrations, according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

"Yes, the stinky smell would certainly add to its already infamous reputation. This is not a planet we humans want to visit, but a valuable target for furthering our understanding of planetary science," astrophysicist Guangwei Fu of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, lead author of the study published in the journal Nature, told Reuters .

The planet is categorized as a " hot Jupiter ," meaning it is a gas giant similar to Jupiter but much hotter due to it being close to a star, NASA said. HD 189733b orbits 170 times closer to its host star than Jupiter does to the sun, according to the government agency. The planet completes one orbit every two days compared to the 12 years Jupiter takes for one orbit of the sun.

"They are quite rare," Fu said about hot Jupiters, per Reuters. "About less than one in 100 star systems have them."

Although we can not smell HD 189733b, researchers can study it better based on its proximity to Earth.

"The close distance makes it bright and easy for detailed studies," Fu said, per Reuters. "For example, the hydrogen sulfide detection reported here would be much more challenging to make on other faraway planets."