Researchers have always strived to discover so-called exoplanets. Such findings have revealed the amazing and strange world never believed to exist in the corner of the universe. This time, researchers have found a hot new world which rains iron. A newly-published study reveals the giant exoplanet is exposed to a million times more radiation than our planet gets from the Sun. Astronomers say the planet present 640 light-years away from the earth experiences intense temperatures up to 4,400F. Researchers from Geneva University in Switzerland have used ESO (European Southern Observatory) Very Large Telescope in Chile.
The planet, dubbed WASP-76b, is a gas giant that is two times larger than Jupiter. As per researchers, one surface of WASP-76b continuously faces its star. In other words, intense energy from star falls on only one surface of the planet and roasts it. As a result, it becomes extremely hot and vaporizes metal, splitting their molecules separately into atoms. After that, the molecules vaporize in the atmosphere, and raging winds take those atoms to the night side. The iron probably condenses on the cooler night side of WASP-76b, which almost certainly transforms into the rain. A researcher from the University of Geneva Christophe Lovis, a co-author of the study, said it seems like drops of metal falling from the sky. Apart from this, the iron rain would be incredibly dense.
Lovis said the rain at WASP-76b seems like the weighty steel industry on our planet where they melt down iron. The staggering variance between two sides of the planet indicates winds can reach more than 11,180 mph. These winds carry the boiling hot particles from the dayside of the planet. Well, the latest discovery provides new understandings into the wide variety of planets away from our solar system. So far, researchers have spotted over 4,000 exoplanets. Apart from this, some latest powerful ground-based telescopes under construction, slated to launch next year, could offer some more insights in the extraterrestrial world.
