Astronomers have come across the shiniest planet ever found, a mere 265 light years from our solar system.
Shrouded by thick metallic clouds, this world’s temperature reaches a blistering 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit, and it quite likely rains scorching-hot drops of titanium.
The find, named LTT 9779 b, was described in a paper published this month in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics.
Nearly five times as big as Earth, it’s one of the few ultrahot, gaseous exoplanets of this size that scientists have discovered.
But LTT 9779 b, which sprints around its star once every 19 hours, is midsize — making it one of four or five planets in the so-called Neptune desert, and the only one with an intact atmosphere.
Persons:
”, James Jenkins
Organizations:
Astrophysics, Diego Portales University, NASA’s
Locations:
Chile