The James Webb Space Telescope discovers an exoplanet where it rains sand

Power James Webb Space Telescope a pot Surprises continues to search for new worlds outside our solar system in order to identify them, observe them, and understand what is happening in their atmospheres to finally know if the ability to host life as we know it exists.

now, NASA reported that James Webb revealed the existence of a gas planet on which droplets of sand fall in the form of rain. about him Planet WASP-107b Which It is 200 light years away from us Far away, in the constellation Virgo, it has already caught the attention of astronomers because it is so large yet so light, earning it the nickname “cotton candy” planet. It has a mass similar to that of Neptune, but is much larger, almost like Jupiter. Which makes the planet quite “spongy” compared to the gas giants in our solar system.

Its unusual sponginess allowed a team of astronomers to observe its atmosphere and reveal its complex chemical composition (spectral properties are more pronounced in a less dense atmosphere than in a more compact one).

The discovery was made by a team of European astronomers led by Institute of Astronomy of the Catholic University of Leuven (Belgium)This is made possible by MIRI, the James Webb instrument that allows us to observe the universe in the near and mid-infrared and see cold objects, very distant objects – such as the first galaxies – and objects hidden by dust.

According to the study, the details of which were Published in Naturein the atmosphere WASP-107b contains water vapor, sulfur dioxide (SO2) and silicate clouds. In addition, there is no trace of methane, a greenhouse gas, data that provides essential information about the dynamics and chemistry of the planet. The discovery of sulfur dioxide was surprising, given that previous models of the study predicted there would be none. But although its host star emits a relatively small fraction of high-energy photons, the planet’s spongy nature allows these photons to reach deep into the atmosphere and produce the chemical reactions needed to generate sulfur dioxide.

Furthermore, the team observed that the spectral properties of sulfur dioxide and water vapor were significantly reduced compared to what they would be in the cloud-free scenario.

“Our knowledge of other planets depends on what we know about Earth“This is very limited knowledge,” said Professor Len Dessen, from the Catholic Institute (KU) in Leuven and first author of the research. The planet was discovered in 2017 after astronomers detected a periodic flash of light from its host star every time the planet passed in front of it. “It’s like a fly in front of a street light. “You see a slight attenuation of light,” the expert commented.

But the James Webb Large Telescope takes these observations to the next level by measuring the filtering of starlight through the planet’s atmosphere. Because different elements absorb different wavelengths of light, the spectrum of starlight indicates which gases are present.

“It’s a great planet because it’s so squishy. It’s one of the softest planets out there, and we can get these great signals when we look at its atmosphere,” said Joanna Barstow, a planetary scientist at the center. The Open University is working on separate JWST measurements for the same planet. “We’ve been working on predictions for the past 10 years, but nothing has prepared us for what we’re actually seeing, either what we’re discovering or the quality of the data. It’s been really exciting,” he commented.

The planet’s atmosphere would offer something similar to the water cycle on Earth, but instead with sand cycling between solid and gaseous states.. From the warmer levels of the atmosphere, with temperatures approaching 1,000 degrees Celsius, silicate vapor will rise, cool, and form microscopic sand grains, too small to be seen. Over time, the sandy dust clouds will become dense enough to begin falling into the lower layers of the atmosphere. Below a certain level, the sand will sublimate back into vapor, completing the cycle.

“The clouds will be like foggy dust. These sand particles are flowing at a very high speed. “At a speed of a few kilometers per second,” Desen noted. ¿How can these sand clouds exist at high altitudes and continue to exist?

According to the lead author, Michelle Maine, Seeing “these sand clouds high in the atmosphere must mean that sandy raindrops are evaporating into deeper, hotter layers, and the resulting silicate vapor is effectively moving upward, where it condenses again.” To form silicate clouds again. “This is very similar to the water vapor and cloud cycle on our Earth, but with droplets made of sand.”

The study concluded that this continuous cycle of sublimation and condensation through vertical transport is responsible for the long-term presence of sand clouds in the atmosphere of planet WASP-107b. The research not only sheds light on the strange world of WASP-107b, but… It expands the boundaries of our understanding of exoplanetary atmospheres and represents a milestone in the exploration of exoplanets. By revealing the complex interplay between chemicals and climate conditions on these distant worlds.

“JWST revolutionizes the characterization of exoplanets, providing unprecedented information at extraordinary speed,” concluded Dessen of the Catholic University of Leuven.

The main goal of the James Webb Space Telescope is to analyze the atmosphere of distant planets and search for gases with biological signatures. Which may indicate the presence of life. Wasp-107b is not a likely candidate, given its 1,000°C climate and lack of a solid surface. “It’s quite hostile, not for us,” Dessen said.

Observations of the atmospheres of rocky, Earth-sized planets will be more difficult, because if they have an atmosphere, it tends to be thinner and denser. However, the level of detail obtained from targets such as Wasp-107b is an encouraging sign.

“The universe has a lot of surprises. I imagine there could be several alternative ways for life to have formed on another planet. It could be very different from something you know here on Earth. We have to expand our imagination,” Desen concluded.