Scientists monitor the brightest planets outside the solar system
New observations from the European Cubes space telescope indicate the existence of a strange exoplanet at a distance of more than 260 light years from Earth. This planet reflects 80% of the light of its host star, and is considered the brightest object in the night sky of our planet after the Moon, as its brightness is equal to the brightness of Venus.
This exoplanet, discovered in 2020, is known as “LTT9779b”, and it is considered the first of its kind outside the solar system and has a Neptune-like size. This planet revolves around its star in a period of only 19 hours.
Due to its close proximity to its star, its luminous face reaches a temperature of 2,000 degrees Celsius, which is too hot for clouds to form. However, the light reflection off LTT 9779b indicates the presence of clouds.
These clouds constitute a real mystery, according to Vivien Parmentier, a researcher at the Côte d'Azur Observatory and co-author of the study, which was published in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics. The researchers studied the formation of these clouds in a way that resembles the condensation of steam in a bathroom after a hot shower, the researcher said in a statement.
The results indicate that the burning stream of minerals and silicates - the materials that make up glass - in LTT 9779b's atmosphere causes oversaturation, leading to the formation of metal clouds.
On the other hand, previous exoplanets known to orbit their star quickly (less than 24 hours) were either gas giants 10 times larger than Earth or rocky planets half the size of Earth. However, the outer volume of LTT 9779b is five times that of Earth. The planet is located in an area astronomers call the "hot Neptune desert", where planets of this size should not exist, according to Parmentier.
It was previously expected that the planet's atmosphere would explode due to its proximity to its very close star, leaving behind bare rock. However, LTT 9779b's metallic clouds appear to be a mirror that reflects light and prevents volatilization, according to Maximilian Guenther, chief scientist for the CubeS project at the European Space Agency.
Guenther told AFP that the clouds act “as a shield,” like the shields that protect “spaceships in old episodes of the Star Trek series.”
The researcher pointed out that this development represents an “important step” because it shows how a planet the size of Neptune could grow in a similar environment.
It is worth noting that the European Space Agency’s “Quebes” space telescope was sent in 2019 to study planets discovered outside our solar system. The telescope was used to measure the reflective efficiency of LTT 9779b by comparing the amount of light before and after the exoplanet disappeared behind its star.
Source: AFP