The scorching exoplanet that acts like a mirror: Bizarre world with titanium clouds is discovered 260 light-years from Earth
When you think of bright objects in the night sky, the moon or Venus might spring to mind.
But these objects pale in comparison to a new world, which scientists say is so extreme that it probably shouldn’t exist.
The blazingly hot exoplanet appears to be wrapped in metallic clouds made of titanium and silicates that reflect a whopping 80 per cent of light back into space.
This makes it the universe’s most reflective object known, overtaking Venus, which reflects about 75 per cent of incoming light.
‘It’s a giant mirror in space,’ said James Jenkins of Diego Portales University, co-author of the study.
The planet, named LTT9779b, and its star are located about 264 light years from Earth in the direction of the constellation, Sculptor.
The planet’s diameter is about 4.7 times greater than Earth, and it orbits very close to its star, meaning its surface temperature is about 3,270°F (1,800°C) – hotter than molten lava.
With its star so close, it is a wonder it has any atmosphere at all, according to the researchers.
An atmosphere with water-based clouds, as on Earth, would have been blown away by solar radiation long ago.
But they believe its clouds are metallic, a combination of titanium and silicate.
‘We even think that the clouds could condense into droplets, and have titanium rain falling in parts of the atmosphere,’ Jenkins said.
The researchers studied the planet using the European Space Agency’s CHEOPS orbiting telescope.
‘No other planet like this has been discovered to date,’ said astronomer and study lead author Sergio Hoyer of the Marseille Astrophysics Laboratory in France.
Possessing an atmosphere while orbiting so close to its star makes it ‘a planet that shouldn’t exist,’ according to astronomer and study co-author Vivien Parmentier of the Côte d’Azur Observatory in France.
Source: daily mail
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The scorching exoplanet that acts like a mirror: Bizarre world with titanium clouds is discovered 260 light-years from Earth