Scientists have spotted a rare optical phenomenon called a “glory” on the exoplanet WASP-76b for the first time using ESA’s CHEOPS satellite.
A glory creates colorful ring patterns of light and occurs when light rays are reflected and refracted by water or ice particles in atmospheres like clouds or fog.
WASP-76b is an exotic world that orbits very close to its star, has extreme temperatures of 2000 degrees Celsius, and rains molten iron on its day side.
CHEOPS detected an unexpected increase in light coming from the boundary where the planet’s day and night sides meet, which scientists hypothesize could be caused by the glory effect.
Observing a glory is very difficult as it requires very specific atmospheric conditions of spherical and uniform particles. This is the first sighting outside of Earth and Venus.
More evidence is still needed to confirm it is a glory, but future instruments like JWST and Ariel could provide more data to prove this rare optical phenomenon on an alien world.
If confirmed, it would give new insights into the atmospheric dynamics and conditions on extreme exoplanets like WASP-76b.
Source: gizmodo
