This planet is characterized by clouds of silica sand, scorching temperatures, and an odor similar to burning sulfur dioxide
Planet WASP-107b is located about 200 light-years from Earth
NASA Enlarge image In 2017, astronomers discovered the planet WASP-107b, and were very interested in studying it as a unique complex world.
planet falls (WASP-107b) is about 200 light-years from Earth, and it is a giant planet similar to Neptune in mass, and similar in size to Jupiter, and it is considered one of the least dense known exoplanets.
This planet is about 80 million kilometers away from its star, and revolves around it at a speed of once every 5.7 days.
And he agreed study Published by the journal Nature, observations carried out by the James Webb Space Telescope revealed that “the planet has sand falling in the form of rain.”
“This planet is characterized by clouds of silica sand, strong winds, scorching temperatures, rain, and an odor reminiscent of burning sulfur dioxide,” the study notes.
Observations made by the James Webb Space Telescope show the presence of “traces of water vapor, sulfur dioxide, and clouds of silicon dioxide that behave similar to water clouds on Earth.”
Scientists explain that “the life cycle on this planet depends on sand in its gaseous and solid states, and that as its temperature rises to about 1000 degrees Celsius, silica dust rises, forming microscopic grains that condense and fall in the form of rain, and this is very similar to the cycle of water vapor and clouds on Earth.” “Planet Earth, but with drops made of sand.”
Says Lynn Designprofessor of astronomy at the Belgian Catholic University of Louvain, and participating in the study: “This planet has a thin atmosphere, which allows us to look deeply into the atmosphere itself.”
Desin added in statements to Nature Middle East: Looking deeply into the planet’s thin atmosphere helped discover the presence of sulfur dioxide, water vapor, and sand clouds composed of silicates interacting together in a balanced, dynamic system.
She continues: Sand clouds have been discovered on exoplanets before, but this is the first time that the chemical composition of those clouds has been analyzed thanks to the James Webb Space Telescope, its huge mirror, and its high penetrating capabilities that provide high-precision observations in the infrared range.
Astronomers observe planets that resemble the planet (WASP-107b) using the transit technique. To understand it, imagine, for example, that you are holding a grain of corn between your two fingers, then you extend your hands upward and pass it in front of the illuminated lamp on the ceiling of the room. You will notice that the lamp’s illumination decreases slightly.
The same thing – with a big difference in accuracy, of course – happens in the case of planetary transits; Scientists direct their telescopes at a star for a period of time, and if a slight periodic decrease in the brightness of this star is observed, this indicates that a star has crossed in front of it, and because the light rays emanating from the star through telescopes such as James Webb pass through the atmosphere of this planet, they carry chemical fingerprints. About the contents of this atmosphere.
“This planet is a world that is very different from our Earth, not only in its chemical composition, but also in terms of thermodynamics,” Dessen says. For example, the temperature of the planet’s outer atmosphere is about 1000 degrees Celsius, and the atmosphere is much less dense than Earth’s.
