Molten Iron Rain Falls Through the Skies of Scorching-Hot Exoplanet (space.com) 14
A new study reports that iron rain likely falls through the thick, turbulent air of WASP-76 b, a bizarre "ultrahot Jupiter" that lies about 640 light-years from the sun, in the constellation Pisces. Space.com reports: WASP-76 b zips around its host star once every 1.8 Earth days, an orbit so tight that the gaseous planet is "tidally locked," always showing the star the same face. Temperatures on this dayside climb above 4,350 degrees Fahrenheit (2,400 degrees Celsius) -- hot enough to vaporize metals -- whereas the nightside is a much cooler (but still ridiculous) 2,730 F (1,500 C), researchers said. WASP-76 b was discovered in 2013. The alien planet is about as massive as Jupiter but nearly twice as wide, likely because the massive radiation loads the exoplanet receives from its host star puff up its atmosphere considerably. (And one quick note about the object's distance: Some sources say that WASP-76 b is about 390 light-years away, but that number is inaccurate, Ehrenreich said. He and his colleagues calculated WASP-76 b's distance using data from Europe's ultraprecise star-mapping spacecraft Gaia.)
Vangelis was there ! (Score:2)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
So here is the proof that interstellar travel is possible.
Re: (Score:3)
no, they went to a different planet, that one was closed due to a Fevid virus outbreak
Re: (Score:2)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
Alright, we get, the apocalypse is upon us. (Score:2)
Re:Alright, we get, the apocalypse is upon us. (Score:5, Funny)
I can already see it. Molten lava falling from the sky, earth splitting open, and in the midst of all of it some YouTube film critic that complains that it was all way better in the book.
I know it's inTFA, but why climbs? (Score:2)
"Temperatures on this dayside climb above 4,350 degrees Fahrenheit "
If it's tidally locked what makes the day side cool off and climb back up to 4350F?
Re: (Score:3)
The theory is planet wide circulation of the atmosphere, which carries the iron from the dayside to the nightside and back again. The planet as a whole is tidally locked, but the temperature of the atmosphere climbs and falls as it circulates.
Either that, or the author just used an earth-based idiom without thinking of what it actually means.
But (Score:2)
It's a dry heat.
Confusing! (Score:2)
Is this hot enough to kill the Wuhan Flu, or not? I don't even see the word "virus" in the summary at all, what does this have to do our inevitable apocalyptic doom?
FTFY (Score:2)
Title: Molten Iron Rain Falls Through the Skies of Scorching-Hot Coronavirus-Free Exoplanet