– Astronomers have detected a “glory effect” on the exoplanet WASP-76b, located 637 light years from Earth. This is the first time this phenomenon has been observed on a world outside our solar system.
– The glory effect causes concentric, colorful light rings when light reflects off uniformly sized cloud particles. It was previously only observed on Earth and Venus.
– WASP-76b is an “ultra-hot” exoplanet that is nearly twice the size of Jupiter and orbits very close to its star. Its dayside reaches over 4000 degrees Fahrenheit.
– Data from the CHEOPS space telescope showed an unusual increase in light coming from the eastern side of WASP-76b, where the day-night boundary faces Earth. This suggests a localized, directionally dependent reflection known as the glory effect.
– The detection indicates WASP-76b has persistent clouds of perfectly spherical particles, revealing its atmosphere has stable temperatures. This could be clouds of molten iron that rains on the planet.
– If astronomers can detect light phenomena like glories across vast distances, it improves prospects of identifying biosignatures like sunlight glinting off alien oceans in the future.
Source: CNN
