The exoplanet was discovered in 2016 but researchers have noticed that WASP-76b is hotter than previously thought. The key to that conclusion was the discovery of ionized calcium which required extremely hot conditions.
Reported Science Alert, Saturday (9/10/2021), the surface temperature of WASP-76b is expected to rise to around 4,400 degrees Fahrenheit or 2,246 degrees Celsius during the day. “We saw so much calcium; this is a very powerful feature,” said astrophysicist Emily Deibert of the University of Toronto in Canada.
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“This spectral signature of ionized calcium may indicate that planet exoplanets have atmospheric temperatures on exoplanets much higher than we thought,” he said.
The researchers used data from the Gemini North Telescope in Hawaii to look at the temperate zone of planet WASP-67b, the boundary between day and night. They used the process of transit spectroscopy, in which the light of an exoplanet’s star shines through its atmosphere, all the way back to Earth.
This spectroscopic technique allows astronomers to discover all kinds of secrets about planet exoplanets hundreds of light years away, from details of planetary rotations to wind patterns on the surface.
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The research is part of a multi-year project looking at at least 30 exoplanets, called Exoplanets with Gemini Spectroscopy (ExoGemS).
“We will develop a more complete picture of the true diversity of alien worlds – from one hot enough to host iron rain to others with more extreme climates,” said astronomer Ray Jayawardhana of Cornell University in New York.
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