Shiniest planet ever found acts like a mirror
- Bright exoplanet has heavy clouds made of silicate and metals
- ESA: Planet LTT9779 b is essentially the largest ‘mirror’ in the universe
- The exoplanet reflects 80% of the light shone on it by its host star
The logo of the European Space Agency (ESA) is seen in the main control room of the European Space Operation Centre in Darmstadt, western Germany, on April 12, 2022. – The new Space Safety Centre will be used to monitor satellite data that record the space weather and also the future ESA Mission Vigil. (Photo by ANDRE PAIN / AFP) (Photo by ANDRE PAIN/AFP via Getty Images)
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(NewsNation) — Data from the European Space Agency has revealed the shiniest exoplanet, or planet outside the solar system, ever discovered.
Aside from the moon, the ESA says the brightest object in the night sky is the planet Venus. But now, for the first time, astronomers found an exoplanet that reflects 80% of the light shone on it by its host star.
Information from the ESA’s exoplanet mission Cheops suggests planet LTT9779 b is essentially the largest “mirror” in the universe.
The mirrorlike reflectivity comes from the exoplanet’s metallic clouds. The ESA says the clouds are mostly made of silicate, often what sand and glass are made of, mixed with metals such as titanium.
“Imagine a burning world, close to its star, with heavy clouds of metals floating aloft, raining down titanium droplets,” said James Jenkins, astronomer at Diego Portales University.
An “albedo” is the fraction of light an object reflects. According to the ESA, most planets have a low albedo and planet LTT9779 b’s high albedo came as a surprise due to its high cloud temperature.
“It was really a puzzle, until we realized we should think about this cloud formation in the same way as condensation forming in a bathroom after a hot shower,” said Vivien Parmentier, researcher at the Observatory of Côte d’Azur and co-author of the research.
Parmentier continued: “To steam up a bathroom you can either cool the air until water vapor condenses, or you can keep the hot water running until clouds form because the air is so saturated with vapor that it simply can’t hold any more. Similarly, LTT9779 b can form metallic clouds despite being so hot because the atmosphere is oversaturated with silicate and metal vapors.”
Planet LTT9779 b has a radius nearly five times as big as Earth’s, but a year on the planet takes just 19 hours, the ESA said. Experts have found it odd the exoplanet still exists due to its high temperature and how it can orbit its star in less than a day.
“It’s a planet that shouldn’t exist,” Parmentier said. “We expect planets like this to have their atmosphere blown away by their star, leaving behind bare rock.”
The ESA says the future of exoplanet research is “bright.” The shining discovery marked the first of three exoplanet missions for the agency. It will be followed by the Plato mission in 2026 and the Ariel in 2029.
