The exoplanet WASP-121b, located about 900 light-years from Earth, is a hot, egg-shaped rock. The planet is so hot that heavy metal elements such as iron and magnesium exist in the form of gases and are constantly flowing out of the atmosphere into space.
But the dark side of the planet has been a mysterious region until now. In a new study published February 21 in the journal Nature Astronomy, astronomers shared images and information they obtained from the dark side of the planet using NASA’s Hubble Telescope.
The exoplanet WASP-121b, discovered in 2015, is slightly larger and heavier than Jupiter. It is about to shatter due to the gravitational pull of its WASP 121 star. It completes one orbit around the star in 1.3 days.
Using the information they obtained about the planet, scientists tried to model what kind of chemicals and molecules might be in the atmosphere. They found that there may be clouds of iron and titanium on the dark side of the planet, and the corundum mineral found in rubies and sapphires on Earth. Clouds that pass from the dark side to the bright side suddenly encounter very different conditions and make it rain. These rains are thought to fall in the form of liquid emeralds or sapphires.
NASA’s recently launched James Webb Space Telescope is expected to observe WASP-121b this year. The telescope will evaluate the planet in infrared and analyze its atmospheric chemistry, giving us the opportunity to understand how hot Jupiters form and why exactly their atmospheres are formed.
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