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Astronomers have used space telescopes to peer into the atmosphere of a planet “that shouldn’t exist”, where the surface is hot enough to melt platinum and stainless steel.
The recently discovered exoplanet LTT 9779b, described as a “hot Neptune”, is a large planet hit by intense rays from its parent star.
“For the first time, we have measured the light coming from this planet that shouldn’t exist,” said Ian Crossfield, assistant professor of physics and astronomy at KU and lead author of the paper.
“This planet is so intensely irradiated by its star that its temperature exceeds 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit and its atmosphere may have evaporated completely.”
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Astronomers processed data from NASA’s Tess and Spitzer space telescopes to analyze the atmosphere of LTT 9779b.
Crossfield says: “Our observations of Spitzer show us his atmosphere via the infrared light emitted by the planet.”
The planet is an extreme environment and would be a horrible place for humans, the researchers say.
Crossfield said: “This planet has no solid surface, and is much hotter than even Mercury in our solar system – not only would it lead to melting in this planet’s atmosphere, but also platinum, chromium and stainless steel.”
“A year on this planet is less than 24 hours – it’s the speed at which it revolves around its star.
“It’s a pretty extreme system.”
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Planet LTT 9779b was only discovered last year, becoming one of the first Neptune-sized planets discovered by NASA’s hunt mission to planet Tess.
Crossfield and his co-authors used a technique called “phase curve” analysis to inspect the exoplanet’s atmospheric composition.
Crossfield said: “We measure the amount of infrared light emitted by the planet as it rotates 360 degrees on its axis.
“Infrared light tells you the temperature of something and where the hottest and coldest parts of this planet are – on Earth, it’s no longer hot at noon; it gets warmer a couple of hours in the afternoon.
“But on this planet, it’s actually warmer at almost noon. We see most of the infrared light coming from the side of the planet when its star is straight overhead and much less from other parts of the planet. “
Taking readings of the planet’s temperature will help researchers understand its atmosphere, the researchers say.
“The planet is much colder than we expected, which suggests it is reflecting much of the incident starlight hitting it, presumably due to daytime clouds,” said co-author Nicolas Cowan of the Institute for Research on Exoplanets. iREx) and McGill University of Montreal, which contributed to the analysis and interpretation of the thermal phase curve measurements.
“Also, the planet doesn’t carry much heat to its night side, but we think we understand that: the starlight that is absorbed is probably absorbed high up in the atmosphere, from where energy is rapidly radiated into space.”
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