Unlikely Exoplanet With Clouds Made of Glass and Titanium Over 250 Light Years Away 'Shouldn't Exist'

(Photo : Unsplash / SIMON LEE)

Finding planets built out of interesting material is often a rare occurrence. However, a bizarre, extremely shiny exoplanet with clouds made of glass and titanium was found over 250 light years away, which scientists say "shouldn't exist."

Unique Planet Found

According to Science Alert, a shiny exoplanet called LTT-9779b had unique clouds made out of glass and titanium. The exoplanet was 253 light-years away and was shiny enough to reflect 80% of its host star's light.

For reference, the exoplanet was shinier than Venus, known for its brightness, and was the size of Neptune. The unlikely exoplanet was scorching hot, reaching 2,100 Kelvin temperatures.

So far, this exoplanet has been referred to as the hottest exoplanet of its type ever seen. James Jenkins, the astronomer at the Diego Portales University in Chile, described the exoplanet in an ESA post as a burning world with heavy metal clouds and titanium droplets for rain.

The CHaracterising ExOPlanet Satellite of the European Space Agency was the one that discovered this exoplanet. Although it was already initially spotted, the Cheops were able to detain better phase curve data about the exoplanet.

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How Exoplanets Works

The main function of exoplanets involves orbiting around the star. Usually, the amount of light they portray fluctuates levels of light.

When the star is at the back of a planet, the star's light dims. The light also dims should the star be in front of the star, showing that on either side. The same light emitted and reflected adds to the system's overall emitted light.

This information was used by astronomers to determine the amount of light given off by the exoplanet, subtracting heat-emitted light. This reached a measurement called albedo, as it obtained the reflectiveness of LTT-9779b.

NASA describes albedo as the measurement of how much light is reflected. Earth, for example, has an albedo of 0.3, only reflecting 30% of light from the Sun, while Venus has an albedo of 0.75.

LTT-9779b Atmosphere Difference

The atmosphere of LTT-9779b was described as having scorching hot temperatures but still had class and metal clouds. Mostly, with extreme temperatures, clouds, glass, and metal, would boil off.

Vivien Parmentier, an astronomer of France's Observatory of Côte d'Azur, explained with the example of steaming, wherein people could either cool air until the condensation of water vapor or keep the water hot until the clouds form due to saturated vapor.

Parmentier said that this happens with the LTT-9779b when the atmosphere is saturated with vapor of silicate and metal, these metal clouds start to form. The astronomers say that according to the models, these exoplanets "shouldn't exist."

The exoplanet's mass was 29 times the Earth's and had a 4.7 times wider radius. The exoplanet also has a 19-hour orbit around its Sun-like star.