This Extremely Extreme Exoplanet Has Metal Vapor Clouds And Rains Liquid Jewels
A giant exoplanet 855 light-years away is so extreme, it has clouds of vaporized metals and rains liquid rubies and sapphires. ...
The exoplanet in question is one of the most famous and well-studied we've seen to date. It's called WASP-121 b, first discovered in 2015, a gas giant about 1.18 times the mass and 1.81 times the size of Jupiter, on a close orbit of its star of just 1.27 days. Two years after it was discovered, WASP-121 b became the first exoplanet in whose stratosphere water had been found.
It is, however, extremely unlikely that WASP-121 b could be habitable. On such a close orbit, it's exceedingly hot, with temperatures that range between 1,500 and 3,000 Kelvin (1,227 to 2,727 degrees Celsius, or 2,240 to 4,940 degrees Fahrenheit). ...
Because it's on such a close orbit, WASP-121 b is also tidally locked with its star, which occurs when an orbiting body rotates at the same rate that it orbits. That means the exoplanet always has one side facing its star, in permanent scorching daylight, while the other side is always facing away, in permanent darkness. Previous probes of WASP 121 b's atmosphere found vapors of heavy metals in the atmosphere of its day side. ...
... [The] team's research shows that night side temperatures are low enough that clouds could form from metals previously detected in the atmosphere of WASP-121 b. These include vanadium, iron, chromium, calcium, sodium, magnesium, and nickel; but, interestingly, no aluminum or titanium. ...
That means it could be raining precious gems on WASP-181 b. Although it could be raining precious gems on Neptune and Uranus too – in either case, we have no hope of harvesting them, but WASP-181 b shows us what fascinating variety can exist in the different types of worlds out there. ...
The team's research has been published in Nature Astronomy.