WASP-76b is a strange world. The Jupiter-like planet is hundreds of light-years away, tidally locked to its star, extremely hot and fertile with molten iron. Recent observations of this hot gas giant suggest that it may even have iridescent optical phenomena observed only on Earth and Venus.
The European Space Agency’s Cheops satellite has discovered the first signs of the “Glory Effect” on extrasolar planets, discovering colorful rings on WASP-76b. Glow is created when light passes between water droplets in clouds or fog, creating an optical effect that looks like a rainbow halo.
“There’s a reason why the glow has never been seen outside our solar system – it requires very special condition.” study Said in an article published in Astronomy and Astrophysics statement.
“First, you need atmospheric particles that are nearly perfectly spherical, completely uniform and stable enough for long-term observation. The star near the planet needs to be shining directly on it, and the observer – in this case Khufu – is in the right direction,” he added road.
As if WASP-76b wasn’t weird enough. The exoplanet orbits a star that is 50% more massive than the sun and 500 degrees Celsius hotter. WASP-76b is tidally locked to its star, meaning one side is permanently bathed in light and heat. It is about 12 times closer than Venus orbits the sun. This extreme position heats the planet’s atmosphere to 2,000 degrees Celsius, causing it to expand to nearly six times the size of Jupiter (it is almost twice as wide but less massive).
Oh, and it happened to rain iron on WASP-76b too. Due to the temperature difference between day and night, iron melts during Earth’s daylight hours and condenses into clouds by the time it reaches the darker, cooler nights.
Choeps, the Exoplanet Signature Satellite, observed WASP-76b for three years and discovered a surprising increase in the amount of light coming from the boundary between night and day. “This discovery led us to hypothesize that this unexpected luminescence could be caused by strong, localized and anisotropic (direction-dependent) reflection, known as the Glory effect,” said de Mangien.
Scientists still need to collect more evidence to prove that this extra light is indeed the glory effect, and they plan to use instruments on the Webb Space Telescope to do this. ESA’s upcoming Ariel mission, scheduled to launch in 2029, which plans to conduct the first chemical survey of an exoplanet, could also be used to demonstrate rare phenomena on WASP-76b.
more: Ripples in space-time reveal mysterious object colliding with stellar corpse