Discovering a planet where it might rain ‘liquid gems’

This came according to a study conducted by twelve astronomers published in natural astronomy

WASP-121b is what scholarsHot Jupiter, a class of gas giants similar to Jupiter but very close to its star. The planet is so close to its star that it only takes 30 hours to make one orbit. Because of that short distance, temperatures on the day side rise to about 3000 degrees Celsius.

Due to its very short distance, WASP-121b also has synchronous rotation, which means that the same side is always facing the star. This ensures that the side facing the sun is hotter than the night side. Because of this huge temperature difference, a lot of strange weather phenomena appear on the planet.

metallic clouds

Since the side of the day is always facing the sun, it is so hot there that even minerals such as iron and chromium evaporate. Water vapor does not survive temperatures and breaks down into hydrogen and oxygen atoms.

Once these atoms end up on the night side again, they combine to form water again. However, it is still too hot there to form water clouds. But this does not mean that there are no clouds on the planet. From New study It now appears that atmospheric minerals on the night side can condense into mineral clouds.

The most notable discovery made by scientists was that the atmosphere was free of aluminum and titanium. According to the study authors, a possible explanation for this is that these substances condense on the night side corundumAnd from which rubies and sapphires are made. This means that it can rain liquid gemstones on the planet.

More information soon

Scientists used the information obtained Hubblespace telescope. Scientists looked at the planet in two full orbits (60 hours). To measure the materials in the atmosphere, they compared changes in the spectrum of light emitted by the planet.

However, there is still a lot to learn about this planet, You know scholars. For this reason, they would like to take another look at WASP-121b with extension James WebbHubble’s new space telescope. According to lead author Thomas Michael Evans, the team wants to do this within the first year of commissioning James Webb.

Hubble’s successor

The James Webb Space Telescope was launched on Christmas Day last year and has since traveled about 1.6 million kilometers. Now that I raise the telescope The final destination has arrived The adjustment process started for six months. Once that process ends early this summer, the telescope will be ready for full commissioning.

Although scientists like Michal Evans can use the telescope to observe planets and stars, it has a different main mission. James Webb’s goal is to discover what the universe looked like when he was very young. In addition, it will be 13.7 billion years in the past to look

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