A research team with participation from Austria has most likely observed an optical phenomenon called ‘glory glow’ outside our solar system for the first time. This is evident from data sent to Earth by the ESA CHEOPS satellite, it is said.
The location of the phenomenon identified by the ESA satellite CHEOPS is the exoplanet WASP-76b, an ‘ultra-hot gas giant’ located about 637 light-years from Earth. A “glory halo” (also known as a glory note) is a characteristic light scattering that resembles a halo.
To observe such a phenomenon several requirements are needed: in addition to the correct distance between the light source, the medium that scatters it so characteristically, and the observer, you need atmospheric particles that are almost perfectly spherical, completely uniform and stable . enough to be able to observe over a longer period of time.
“The planet’s nearby star must shine directly on it, and the observer – here CHEOPS – must have exactly the right orientation,” says the first author of the study in the journal “Astronomy & Astrophysics”, Olivier Demangeon, from the Institute for Astrophysics and Space Sciences in Porto (Portugal).
Detected only once on Venus
Although the phenomenon can be observed many times on Earth, it has only been observed once on Venus outside our home planet, according to a press release from the European Space Agency (ESA).
In the data from CHEOPS (Characterizing ExOplanet Satellite, photo below) and other ESA and NASA missions, scientists including Wolfgang Baumjohann and Lucca Fossati from the Institute for Space Research (IWF) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW) in Graz or astronomer Manuel Güdel of the University of Vienna were now the first strong indications that the effect was far, far away.
Probably rain made of liquid iron
WASP-76b – a gas giant most similar to Jupiter that orbits relatively close to its sun – is likely to experience extreme conditions with intense heat and likely rain of molten iron. The side facing the sun is therefore characterized by temperatures of up to 2,400 degrees Celsius, the researchers who have been studying the exoplant for about ten years estimate.
Data analyzes including cloud and atmosphere models from the Graz Institute confirmed the suspicion that we were dealing with the rainbow-like ‘glory’ phenomenon.
Evidence of stable planetary weather
Conversely, there should be very consistent clouds and equally consistent exoplanetary weather there. The fact that such phenomena can be observed so far away also fuels the hope that in the future we will learn much more about the atmospheres of exoplanets, such as the reflections of lakes or oceans and therefore about the presence of water.
However, astronomers cannot yet determine that it is actually a “glory” on WASP-76b. They want to point other instruments, such as the James Webb telescope, at the planet to find out more.
Source: Krone
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