Astronomers Detect Hints of Earth’s Atmospheric Characteristics in Scorching Exoplanet WASP-189b | The Weather Channel – Articles from The Weather…

Artists impression of WASP-189b, an exoplanet orbiting the star HD 133112 which is one of the hottest stars known to have a planetary system.

Among the infinite mysteries of the cosmic world, one of the most intriguing aspects is the possibility of alien life. And the first step towards understanding such probability is to hunt for faraway worlds that resemble Earth-like conditions to host life as we know it.

Recently, astronomers have revealed some exciting details about the atmosphere of WASP-189ba scorching exoplanet located about 322 light-years from Earth. The exotic worlds located beyond the realms of our solar system are called exoplanets, and we have detected more than 4,000 such planets so far. But these new findings show that WASP-189b is absolutely unique!

Interestingly, this hot, Jupiter-like planet might consist of distinct atmospheric layersjust like planet Earth.

Earths atmosphere has five major layers: troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere, and exosphere. Each of these layers has a role to play, like the stratosphere hosts the ozone layer, while the troposphere hosts life-sustaining oxygen.

Earlier, astronomers believed that exoplanets usually host only uniform layers, but this study suggests otherwise. This is for the first time that scientists have been able to detect the presence of distinct layers in the atmosphere of such a hostile exoplanet.

Astronomers from the Universities of Lund, Bern, and Geneva peered into the atmosphere of this exoplanet using the CHEOPS space telescope. Moreover, they also carried out detailed investigations using the HARPS spectrograph at the La Silla Observatory in Chile, which allowed them to get insights into the exoplanets atmosphere.

They found fingerprints of gases like iron, chromium, vanadium, magnesium, and manganese during the investigation. According to the statement, they found that the fingerprints of the different gases were slightly altered than expected. Further extensive observations revealed hints of layers on the hot exoplanet.

The team hypothesised that the alterations could result from strong winds and other processes. And this could possibly indicate the presence of different atmospheric layers.

Surprisingly, the team also detected the presence of titanium oxide that may act as an ozone layer to this exoplanet.

Titanium oxide absorbs shortwave radiation, such as ultraviolet radiation. Its detection could therefore indicate a layer in the atmosphere of WASP-189b that interacts with the stellar irradiation similarly to how the Ozone layer does on Earth, said Kevin Heng, study co-author from the University of Bern and a member of the NCCR PlanetS.

Observations conducted using the space-based telescope revealed several other details about the scorching WASP-189b. The exoplanet is 20 times closer to its host star than Earth is to the Sun, while the blistering daytime temperature shoots up to 3200C at WASP-189b.

The study results can further our understanding of the atmospheres of other bizarre exoplanets, including Earth-like planets. We never know; scientists might even detect worlds just like the planet Earth sooner than expected.

The results have been published in the journal Nature Astronomy and can be accessed here.

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Astronomers Detect Hints of Earth's Atmospheric Characteristics in Scorching Exoplanet WASP-189b | The Weather Channel - Articles from The Weather...