Exoplanet has Iron Rain Fall from the Sky at Night

An Exoplanet which is hundreds of light-years from earth experiences iron rainfall from the sky at night. Researchers also found the presence of sodium and ionized calcium in the planet’s atmosphere. The Exoplanet is called WASP76b. The results were published on September 28 in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.

Researchers find that WASP 76b is hotter than assumed. Researchers found the presence of sodium and ionised calcium based on observations from the Gemini North Telescope, which is located near the summit of Mauna Kea in Hawaii.The research is part of a Cornell University-led project called ExoGemS, or Exoplanet with Gemini Spectroscopy survey. The project brings together scientists who study the diversity of atmospheres on Exoplanet, which are planets located outside of our solar system.

Ray Jayawardhana, study coauthor and the Harold Tanner Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and a professor of astronomy at Cornell University, said that as they were doing remote sensing of dozens of Exoplanet, spanning a range of masses and temperatures they develop a more complete picture of the true diversity of alien worlds. That is from those hot enough to harbor iron rain to others with more moderate climates, from those heftier than Jupiter to others not much bigger than the Earth.

The ultra-hot planet was discovered in 2016 which is about the size of Jupiter and orbits a star in the Pisces constellation 640 light-years away from Earth. Due to its proximity to the star, WASP-76b completes one orbit around it every 1.8 Earth days and soaks up thousands of times the radiation that Earth receives from the sun.