An exoplanet hosts strange, sandy clouds high in its atmosphere, a brand new study reveals.
While the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST or Webb) may spend quite a lot of its time observing the farthest reaches of the early universe when galaxies were only just beginning to form, it also spends loads of its time focused on objects rather a lot closer to home — resembling the atmospheres of exoplanets in our galactic neighborhood.
A team of European astronomers used observations from the JWST to detail the atmospheric composition of a close-by “fluffy” exoplanet, called WASP-107b. Researchers found water vapor, sulfur dioxide and even silicate sand clouds residing inside the exoplanet’s dynamic atmosphere. The brand new study may have implications for our understanding of the chemistry of distant planets.
The exoplanet WASP-107b is one in all the bottom density planets known to astronomers, sometimes being likened to a comet. . The planet is roughly the identical size as Jupiter, but with only 12% of its mass. WASP-107b sits roughly 200 light years from Earth, and takes only six days to orbit its home star, which is barely cooler and fewer massive than our sun.
The planet’s low density, or fluffiness, allowed astronomers to look 50 times deeper into the atmosphere of the planet in comparison with observations achieved for more dense planets, like Jupiter.
The initial discovery of sulfur dioxide (the smell released once you light a match) surprised astronomers. It is because WASP-107b’s host star emits a comparatively small fraction of high-energy light photons, on account of the planet being smaller and cooler. The planet’s low density, nevertheless, means these photons can penetrate deep into WASP-107b’s atmosphere, causing the chemical reactions that create sulfur dioxide.
Apart from the sulfur dioxide, astronomers also noted the presence of high-altitude clouds composed of advantageous silicate particles — mainly, really fine-grained sand.
Researchers suppose the sand clouds form in an analogous option to water vapor and clouds on Earth, just with droplets of sand. When the sand rain droplets condense and fall, they encounter very popular layers inside the planet, where they grow to be silicate vapor and are moved back up where they recondense to form clouds once more.
“JWST is revolutionizing exoplanet characterisation, providing unprecedented insights at remarkable speed,” said lead writer Leen Decin of Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in Belgium, in a press release.
“The invention of clouds of sand, water, and sulfur dioxide on this fluffy exoplanet … is a pivotal milestone. It reshapes our understanding of planetary formation and evolution, shedding latest light on our own solar system,” he added.
Observations were taken using JWST’s Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI), a spectrograph which might probe planetary atmospheres in mid-infrared or heat-seeking wavelengths. The paper was published within the journal Nature on Wednesday (Nov. 15).