Question: Recently an international team of astronomers has discovered an exoplanet. This exoplanet rains which of the following metal?
(a) Iron
(b) Platinum
(c) Copper
(d) Silver
Answer: (a)
Related facts:
- Astronomers at Spain’s Institute of Astrophysics of the Canary Islands (IAC) have discovered an exoplanet WASP-76b where it rains iron.
- WASP-76 b was discovered in 2013.
- Exoplanet conditions were discovered by Rocky exoplanets and the Echel spectrograph for Stable Spectroscopic Observation (ESPRESSO).
- The high-resolution instrument is installed on the Very Large Telescope (VLT) of the European Southern Observatory in Chile.
- WASP-76 b is a bizarre Ultrahot Jupiter that lies about 640 light-years from the sun, in the constellation Pisces.
WASP-76 b’s distance from us:
- Some sources say that WASP-76 b is about 390 light-years away, but that number is inaccurate.
- Astronomers calculated WASP-76 b’s most accurate distance using data from Europe’s ultraprecise star-mapping spacecraft Gaia.
Day-night Temperatures on WASP-76 b:
- WASP-76 b zips around its host star once every 1.8 Earth days.
- Temperatures on this dayside climb above 4,350 degrees Fahrenheit (2,400°C), hot enough to vaporize metals.
- Researchers say that the nightside of this planet is much cooler and remains at 2,730 F (1,500 °C).
- One should know that 1500 °C is also the temperature, enough to maintain iron in liquid state and it explains the cause of iron rain upon this planet.
- If we observe an exoplanet during its transit across the disc of its star we can study the part of its atmosphere through which the light from the star passes.
- With ESPRESSO it has been possible to detect chemical variations using analysis of the small part of the observable atmosphere.
- Similar to Earth’s moon, WASP-76b is tidally locked, which means that it keeps its same face toward the object that it orbits.
- Tidally locked situation of WASP-76b causes this extreme difference in temperature between day and night on the planet.
- Researchers at the IAC of the view that ultrahot giant planets are the best laboratories for studying extreme climates on exoplanets.
Links:
https://science.slashdot.org/story/20/03/12/2243240/molten-iron-rain-falls-through-the-skies-of-scorching-hot-exoplanet
https://www.foxnews.com/science/iron-rain-discovered-on-distant-planet-scientists-reveal.amp?cmpid=prn_newsstand