"Using data from ESA’s Characterising ExOplanet Satellite (CHEOPS) and several other ESA and NASA missions, astronomers have detected signs of the rainbow-like ‘glory effect’ in the atmosphere of the ultra-hot Jupiter WASP-76b.
This effect occurs when light is reflected off clouds made up of a perfectly uniform but so far unknown substance.
WASP-76b is an ultra-hot Jupiter located 640 light-years away in the constellation of Pisces.
Here, elements that would form rocks on Earth melt and evaporate, only to condense on the slightly cooler night side, creating iron clouds that drip molten iron rain.
But astronomers have been puzzled by an apparent asymmetry, or wonkiness, in WASP-76b’s ‘limbs’ — its outermost regions seen as it passes in front of its host star.
“WASP-76b is ‘inflated’ by the intense radiation from its star,” said Dr. Monika Lendl.
WASP-76b is an ultra-hot Jupiter located 640 light-years away in the constellation of Pisces.
But astronomers have been puzzled by an apparent asymmetry, or wonkiness, in WASP-76b’s ‘limbs’ — its outermost regions seen as it passes in front of its host star.
“WASP-76b is ‘inflated’ by the intense radiation from its star,” said Dr. Monika Lendl.
“WASP-76b is several hundred light-years away — an intensely hot gas giant planet where it likely rains molten iron. Despite the chaos, it looks like we’ve detected the potential signs of a glory. It’s an incredibly faint signal.”
“This discovery leads us to hypothesize that this unexpected glow could be caused by a strong, localized and anisotropic (directionally dependent) reflection — the glory effect.”
“Never before have we seen these colorful, concentric rings on an extrasolar body,” said Dr. Thomas Wilson, an astronomer at the University of Warwick."
“Never before have we seen these colorful, concentric rings on an extrasolar body,” said Dr. Thomas Wilson, an astronomer at the University of Warwick."
SciNews
