Do you ever want to catch a glimpse of a distant alien realm? Well, Saturday is a lucky day for all curious space enthusiasts as a live public observation of an elusive exoplanet can be watched online for the very first time.

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According to the Slooh Community Observatory, a planet nicknamed "Dark Knight" was observed on June 28 as it crossed the face of its host star. Since it reflects so little light, it is considered the darkest planet in the universe.

"Dark Knight is the darkest exoplanet yet discovered, darker than coal or even black acrylic paint, reflecting just 1 percent of the light that falls on it," Slooh representatives wrote in a statement.

By using the 1.52 meter infrared Carlos Sánchez Telescope, which is the world's largest infrared telescope, the public was able to watch the transit of the impossibly black exoplanet "Dark Knight" as it passed in front of its sun. As per Space.com, the live feed started at 8 p.m. (EDT), while the transit began 28 minutes into the live broadcast. And its journey was completed in exactly 1 hour and 30 minutes.

So, what do we know about the "Dark Knight?" Aside from being beyond ridiculously dark, here are 3 interesting things to know about the planet.

1. The exoplanet "Dark Knight", called TrES-2b, is a Jupiter-sized planet that is orbiting its star at a distance of just 5 million kilometers. BBC News revealed the planet was named after it was first spotted by the Trans-Atlantic Exoplanet Survey in 2006. It is almost 750 light years away from the Earth and in the Draco constellation.

In addition, it also lies in the field of view of the Kepler space telescope, whose primary mission is to discover exoplanets using extremely sensitive brightness measurements as distant and elusive worlds pass in front of their host stars.

2. Discovered by researchers studying observations from California's Palomar Observatory and the Arizona's Lowell Observatory, TrES-2b is known as a "hot Jupiter." Yahoo! News reported the exoplanet is a gas giant that orbits extremely close to its host star. However, this planet doesn't blaze with a bright, fiery glow.

In addition, "Dark Knight" is a scorching planet at a temperature of 1,000 degrees Celsius and glows faintly red like a smoldering ember.  

3. At twice the mass of Jupiter, the atmosphere of this blacker than coal exoplanet is a significant factor in what makes it so distinctively black. Unlike Jupiter and its light-reflecting ammonia clouds, Earth & Space learned that TrES-2b has an atmosphere of vaporized sodium, potassium, and titanium oxide, chemicals that not only completely fail to reflect light, but actively absorb it. However, that isn't enough to explain how it has an albedo so low it reflects less than 1 percent of all light that hits it.

Despite being so dark, exoplanet "Dark Knight" still absorbs light. And on why is the planet substantially darker than any substance found on Earth still remains unknown and a mystery.

TagsDark Knight, exoplanet, outer space, Universe, Science