Metal clouds have been discovered in the atmosphere of two exoplanets

In the Milky Way, astronomers discover many curiosities. The Hot Jupiters which are particularly close to their star are an example. However, scientists are not at the end of their surprise. Recently they noticed a mysterious phenomenon in the upper layers of the atmosphere of two exoplanets in the Milky Way.

Astronomers have discovered that these two planets have a relatively heavy metal in their atmosphere. Both are gaseous planets and they are called WASP-76b et WASP-121b. Given their extreme proximity to their star, they are also among the Hot Jupiters.

The astronomers who made this discovery published the article on this subject on September 13 on Astronomy & Astrophysics.

Barium in the air

Previous research has already shown detect the presence of metals in the atmosphere of WASP-76b and WASP-121b. They usually present in the form of clouds.

In the atmosphere of WASP-121b there are among others iron, chromium, vanadium, nickel and even magnesium. As for WASP-76b, calcium, vanadium oxide as well as titanium oxide are present in these clouds.

If this discovery is already impressive, the recent barium detection in their atmosphere is even more so. Moreover, astronomer Tomás Azvedo Silva, from the Institute of Astrophysics and Space Sciences (IA) in Portugal, expressed his astonishment.

“We weren’t expecting to find barium in particular, nor were we looking for it, and we had to cross-check that it was from the planet, because it had never been observed in any exoplanets before. »

Thomas Azvedo Silva

For a better understanding of hot Jupiters

The study of composition of exoplanets requires rigorous work with a lot of meticulousness. However, the results were worth the effort, because they opportunity to develop knowledge of these exoplanets.

In concrete terms, astronomers have been able to find out more about hot Jupiters. The point is that the proximity of these gas giants to their sun makes their enigmatic formation. For good reason, the intensity of gravity, solar winds and radiation from the star should have made the agglomeration of gases impossible.

However, the team’s work has led to another observation concerning WASP-121b. Hot Jupiter presents a leak in its atmosphere. In fact, it evaporates because of its star luminous. Thus, scientists have additional evidence supporting that Hot Jupiters can’t survive long so close to a star.

SOURCE : SCIENCEALERT

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