Astronomers have found a planet that resembles a giant mirror
[ad_1]
Researchers have spotted an extraordinary planet outside the solar system. It orbits a sun-like star every 19 hours and is shrouded in clouds of titanium and silicates that reflect light. The planet is slightly larger than Neptune, writes Reuters with reference to the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics. “It’s a giant mirror in space,” said astronomer James Jenkins of the University of Diego Portales in Chile. The clouds around the planet LTT9779b reflect about 80% of the incoming light. And this is the largest indicator in the universe. Photo: Astronomy & Astrophysics For comparison, Venus is the brightest object in the Solar System. It reflects about 75% of the incoming light, and the Earth – only 30%. The planet LTT9779b and its star are located in the Milky Way galaxy about 264 light years from Earth. Scientists studied the planet using the CHEOPS orbital telescope of the European Space Agency. The diameter of the mirror planet is approximately 4.7 times larger than that of the Earth. It orbits very close to its star – even closer than Mercury to the Sun. Due to violent solar radiation, the surface temperature is about 1800°C, so it is hotter than molten lava. Scientists point out that with these characteristics and location, it is very surprising that LTT9779b has an atmosphere. It is interesting that it consists of those elements that make up most of the rocks in the earth’s crust. “We even think that clouds can condense into droplets, and titanium rain can fall in some parts of the atmosphere,” suggests researcher Jenkins. Study co-author Vivien Parmentier of France adds that LTT9779b’s presence of an atmosphere makes it “a planet that shouldn’t exist.” “The super-reflective cloud cover probably helped stop the planet from heating up too much and stripping it of its atmosphere. This is quite unique because all other planets with this temperature that are large enough to retain their atmospheres are too hot to form clouds, and so dark as coal,” said Parmentier. Read also: Alien green flash: the NASA device took an unusual photo of Jupiter
[ad_2]
Original Source Link
