It rains titanium and its clouds are almost made of metal: discover the brightest and strangest exoplanet in the universe

burning world with clouds Roughly the mineral where drops of titanium rain down is the appearance of the planet The most reflective of all outside our solar system. As defined by specialists Cote d’Azur Observatory in Franceabout him The first exoplanet relatively brighter than Venuswho became the object The brightest in the night sky after the moon.

It was first discovered in 2020. Neptune size And he called LTT9779b, This astral body It orbits its star in just 19 hours. Moreover, this strange world More than 260 light years from EarthAnd It reflects 80% of the radiation from its host star, according to new observations from European Khufu Space Telescopewhich achieves outer planets.

Because it is so close, the side facing its star reaches more than 2000°C, which is too hot for clouds to form. However, LTT9779b appears to have it. “It was really a mystery,” he said. Vivian Parmentiera researcher at the Côte d’Azur Observatory in France and co-author of this new study just published in the journal Astronomy and astrophysics-.

“As the planet reflects starlight back at us, the amount of light reaching the instruments decreases slightly as the planet moves out of view behind its star. This slight decrease can be measured thanks to the detectors’ high resolution. “In our observations we realized we should also consider composition,” Parmentier said. The cloud is in the same way as the condensation that forms in the bathroom after a hot shower.”

Optical measurements of secondary eclipses from minor planets can provide a wealth of information about the reflective properties of these worlds, but they are particularly elusive because of their relatively shallow depth. However, if such signals could be detected and modeled, they could provide planetary details, thermal features, and information about uptake devices in the upper atmosphere.

Continuing with the example, in the same way that hot water evaporates in a shower, a scorching stream of metal and silicate, The glass from LTT9779b’s atmosphere forms excessively until it is formed metallic clouds. planet around it Five times the size of Earthand it is also anomalous in other respects.

The only previously discovered exoplanets that orbit their stars in less than 24 hours are gas giants 10 times the size of Earth, or rocks half their size. But LTT9779b lives in a region called Neptune desertAs it is assumed that no specimens of this size will be found. “It’s a planet that shouldn’t exist,” Parmentier suggested. We expect planetary atmospheres like this to be blown away by their stars, leaving behind bare rock.”

the metallic clouds The planet acts like a mirror, it reflects light and prevents the atmosphere from disappearing. “It’s a bit like a shield, like in the old Star Trek movies where they have shields around their ships,” Parmentier drew. This research represents a major breakthrough as it shows how a planet the size of Neptune could survive in the desert of the same name.

space telescope Cheops from the European Space Agency It was launched into Earth’s orbit in 2019 on a mission to explore discovered planets outside our solar system. He measured the reflectivity of LTT9779b by comparing the light before and after the exoplanet disappeared behind its star. S. Hoyer, JS Jenkins, Deleuil, G. Scandariato, TG Wilson, MR Díaz, IJM Crossfield, D. Dragomir, and T. Kataria, and M. Lendel, and R. Ramírez, PA Peña Rojas, and JI Vinés. . .

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