When the light from the star passes through the planets atmosphere, it is filtered by the chemical elements and particles in the gaseous layer. Using the ESPRESSO instrument of ESOs Very Large Telescope, astronomers have actually found the heaviest component yet in an exoplanets environment, barium, in the 2 ultra-hot Jupiters WASP-76 b and WASP-121 b. Credit: ESO/M. Astronomers have found the heaviest element ever discovered in an exoplanet atmosphere– barium. They were amazed to discover barium at high altitudes in the atmospheres of the ultra-hot gas giants WASP-76 b and WASP-121 b– two exoplanets, which are worlds that orbit stars outside our Solar System. Figuring out the structure of an exoplanets environment needs really specialized equipment.
. WASP-76 b and WASP-121 b are no normal exoplanets. Both are called ultra-hot Jupiters as they are comparable in size to Jupiter while having extremely high surface temperatures soaring above 1000 ° C( 1800 ° F ). This is because of their close proximity to their host stars, which likewise implies an orbit around each star takes only one to two days. This provides these worlds rather exotic features. Astronomers suspect that it rains iron on WASP-76 b.
This illustration reveals a night-side view of the exoplanet WASP-76b. The ultra-hot huge exoplanet has a day side where temperature levels climb up above 2400 degrees Celsius, high enough to vaporize metals. Strong winds bring iron vapor to the cooler night side where it condenses into iron beads. To the left of the image, we see the night border of the exoplanet, where it transitions from day to night. Credit: ESO/M. Kornmesser
But even so, the astronomers were shocked to discover barium, which is 2.5 times heavier than iron, in the upper atmospheres of WASP-76 b and WASP-121 b. “Given the high gravity of the worlds, we would expect heavy components like barium to rapidly fall into the lower layers of the environment,” describes co-author Olivier Demangeon, a scientist also from the University of Porto and IA.
” This remained in a way an unexpected discovery,” states Azevedo Silva. “We were not expecting or looking for barium in particular and needed to cross-check that this was in fact originating from the world given that it had actually never been seen in any exoplanet prior to.”
This animation shows the transit spectroscopy method that astronomers usage to study the environments of exoplanets. As the planet passes in front of its star, the light from the star gets filtered by elements and particles in the gaseous layer, which modifies the stellar light that we observe here in the world, and leaves a distinct chemical fingerprint in the observed spectrum.
The reality that barium was detected in the environments of both of these ultra-hot Jupiters suggests that this category of worlds may be even stranger than previously thought. Although we do periodically see barium in our own skies, as the fantastic green color in fireworks, the question for researchers is what natural procedure could trigger this heavy component to be at such high elevations in these exoplanets. “At the moment, we are not sure what the mechanisms are,” discusses Demangeon.
In the study of exoplanet environments, ultra-hot Jupiters are extremely beneficial. As Demangeon describes: “Being gaseous and hot, their environments are very extended and are thus much easier to study and observe than those of smaller or cooler worlds.”
The ultra-hot huge exoplanet WASP-76b orbits the star WASP-76, found some 390 light-years away in the constellation of Pisces. This video takes us on a journey to this system.
Figuring out the composition of an exoplanets atmosphere needs very specific equipment. The group utilized the ESPRESSO instrument on ESOs VLT in Chile to evaluate starlight that had actually been filtered through the environments of WASP-76 b and WASP-121 b. This made it possible to plainly identify numerous elements in them, consisting of barium.
These brand-new outcomes reveal that we have actually only scratched the surface area of the secrets of exoplanets. With future instruments such as the high-resolution ArmazoNes high Dispersion Echelle Spectrograph (ANDES), which will operate on ESOs upcoming Extremely Large Telescope (ELT), astronomers will be able to study the environments of exoplanets small and large, consisting of those of rocky planets similar to Earth, in much higher depth and to gather more ideas as to the nature of these odd worlds.
Reference: “Detection of Barium in the atmospheres of ultra-hot gas giants WASP-76b & & WASP-121b” by T. Azevedo Silva, O. D. S. Demangeon, N. C. Santos, R. Allart, F. Borsa, E. Cristo, E. Esparza-Borges, J. V. Seidel, E. Palle, S. G. Sousa, H. M. Tabernero, M. R. Zapatero Osorio, S. Cristiani, F. Pepe, R. Rebolo, V. Adibekyan, Y. Alibert, S. C. C. Barros, F. Bouchy, V. Bourrier, G. Lo Curto, P. Di Marcantonio, V. DOdorico, D. Ehrenreich, P. Figueira, J. I. González Hernández, C. Lovis, C. J. A. P. Martins, A. Mehner, G. Micela, P. Molaro, D. Mounzer, N. J. Nunes, A. Sozzetti, A. Suárez Mascareño and S. Udry, 13 October 2022, Astronomy & & Astrophysics.DOI: 10.1051/ 0004-6361/2022 44489.
, D. Ehrenreich (UNIGE and Centre Vie dans lUnivers, Faculté des sciences de lUniversité de Genève, Switzerland), P. Figueira (UNIGE and IA/UPorto), J. I. González Hernández (IAC and Universidad de La Laguna, Departamento de Astrofísica, Spain), C. J. A. P. Martins (UA/UPorto and Centro de Astrofísica da Universidade do Porto, Portugal), A. Mehner (ESO Chile), G. Micela (INAF– Osservatorio Astronomico di Palermo, Italy), P. Molaro (INAF Trieste and IFPU), D. Mounzer (UNIGE), N. J. Nunes (Instituto de Astrofísica e Ciências do Espaço, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa and Departamento de Física, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal), A. Sozzetti (INAF– Osservatorio Astrofisico di Torino, Italy), A. Suárez Mascareño (IAC and IAC-ULL), and S. Udry (UNIGE).
When the light from the star passes through the planets atmosphere, it is filtered by the chemical components and molecules in the gaseous layer. Utilizing the ESPRESSO instrument of ESOs Very Large Telescope, astronomers have actually found the heaviest aspect yet in an exoplanets atmosphere, barium, in the two ultra-hot Jupiters WASP-76 b and WASP-121 b. Credit: ESO/M.
Astronomers have discovered the heaviest aspect ever discovered in an exoplanet atmosphere– barium. They were amazed to discover barium at high elevations in the environments of the ultra-hot gas giants WASP-76 b and WASP-121 b– 2 exoplanets, which are worlds that orbit stars outside our Solar System. This unexpected discovery raises questions about what these exotic atmospheres may resemble. The finding was made using the European Southern Observatorys Very Large Telescope (ESOs VLT).
” The confusing and counterproductive part is: why exists such a heavy component in the upper layers of the environment of these worlds?” says Tomás Azevedo Silva, a PhD trainee at the University of Porto and the Instituto de Astrofísica e Ciências do Espaço (IA) in Portugal. Silva led the study, which was released on October 13 in the journal Astronomy & & Astrophysics
