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Astronomers think they ’ve discover an highly rare , luminous phenomenon known as a " glory " in the hellish atmosphere of a distant exoplanet . If the determination is confirmed , it would be the first time one of these rainbow - colored light appearance has been spotted outside thesolar organization .
The exoplanet , WASP-76 b , is located around 637 light - years from Earth . It was first discovered in 2013 by the panoptic Angle Search for Planets ( WASP ) project , which looks for planets as they pass between , or theodolite , their parent ace and Earth .
Exoplanet WASP-76b.
The exoplanet — which may havecannibalized a belittled , Mercury - size neighbor in the past tense — is around 90 % the mass ofJupiterbut about double as encompassing . It is outstandingly close to its home star , orb around 20 times closer thanMercuryorbitsthe sun . As a solvent , it take WASP-76 b just 1.8 days to complete one head trip around its star .
In 2020 , researchers discovered that the major planet is tidally put away , mean one side is always look its home ace , just asthe moonfaces Earth . As a result , the exoplanet ’s sunlit side is around 4,350 degrees Fahrenheit ( 2,400 point Celsius ) , while its dark side is slenderly cool . Researchers cogitate that , due to this subtle temperature dispute , metal like Fe could be vaporize on the light side and then condense into rainfall on the sullen side .
In a new bailiwick , published April 5 in the journalAstronomy & Astrophysics , researchers examined new information on WASP-76 b collected by multiple spacecraft , including theEuropean Space Agency ’s ( ESA ) characterize Exoplanet Satellite andNASA ’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite . This analysis revealed a " bright smear " of light coming from the exoplanet ’s easterly limb , along the boundary where the major planet ’s permanent day and dark sports meeting .
Simulated views of glory on Venus and Earth.
The researchers think this bright spot could be a " glory . " This rarified visual phenomenon , when seen on Earth , is normally made up of concentric rainbow rings forming a giant Mexican valium .
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On Earth , aura are formedwhen sun squeezes through small mess between water speck in clouds or murk , bending the twinkle and separating it into its item-by-item wavelengths . This is standardised tohow rainbows work , except with glories , the lighting is bent by diffraction , which is when light is bent around an blockage , alternatively of refraction , or when lighting is bent as it passes through unlike medium .
" It requires very peculiar conditions , " study atomic number 82 authorOlivier Demangeon , an astronomer at Portugal ’s Institute of Astrophysics and Space Sciences , said in astatement . " First , you call for atmospheric particles that are penny-pinching - to - dead orbicular , entirely undifferentiated and stable enough to be observed over a farsighted time . " The percipient also has to be at just the right predilection to be able to see the diffracted brightness level , he added .
However , it is possible that , if given standardised conditions , the result might happen on other planets . We have already seen this phenomenon elsewhere in the solar system , on Venus , according toESA .
Researchers are incertain exactly how a glory would imprint on WASP-76 b. But give that the undimmed slur has been visible across multiple long time , the spiritualist that diffract the light is likely a spate more stable than the water vapor in our planet ’s standard pressure .
However , the aura theory is ground on an " unbelievably swooning signaling , " so it ’s not certain , Matthew Standing , an exoplanet scientist at ESA who was not demand in the study , said in the program line .
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" Further proof is needed to say once and for all that this intriguing ' extra light ' is a rare glory,“Theresa Lüftinger , an ESA astrophysicist who was not involve in the study , said in the statement . We will in all probability need more powerful instruments , like those on theJames Webb Space Telescope , to get this cogent evidence , she added .
If it is a glory , researcher could use the data to hunt for more extrasolar examples of these light appearance in the ambiance of other exoplanets to pick up more about this puzzling phenomenon .
