The James Webb Space Telescope of NASA has discovered swirling dust clouds
on a far-off world that revolves around two stars.
According to Brittany Miles, a fellow at the University of Arizona and
coauthor of the new study, the exoplanet, known as VHS 1256 b, is about 40
light-years from Earth and circles far from its stars, making it perfect for
fine-grained monitoring with Webb.
VHS 1256 b is a perfect target for Webb because it is about four times as
far from its stars as Pluto is from the Sun, according to Miles in a press
release. That indicates that the planet's radiation is not diluted by that
of its stars.
Larger and smaller pieces of silicate dust are present in the swirling
masses, which are also continuously moving. Additionally, the vapors are
very heated, with a temperature of 1,500 degrees Fahrenheit. (830 degrees
Celsius).
According to Beth Biller, a lecturer at the University of Edinburgh in
Scotland and a research co-author, "the finer silicate grains in its
atmosphere may be more like tiny particles in smoke." "The larger grains
might resemble hot, tiny sand particles more."
Additionally, the study team hypothesized that the silicates swirling in
these clouds occasionally become too weighty and rain into the planet's
upper atmosphere.
Due to its low gravity, VHS 1256 b's silicate clouds stay higher in its
atmosphere, where Webb can more easily see them.
The world is only 150 million years old, which contributes to its youthful
age and the turbulence in its skies. Earth is 4.5 billion years ancient as a
point of comparison.
The Near-Infrared Spectrograph and the Mid-Infrared Instrument, two devices
on board Webb, provided data that the crew used.
Instead of using the more usual transit method, the researchers were able
to directly view the planet because of how far it circles its stars.
Astronomers can identify extraterrestrial traits when a planet
transits
in front of its star, dimming it and causing a change in brightness.
According to a press statement from the University of California, Santa
Cruz, research coauthor Andrew Skemer, "No other telescope has identified so
many features at once for a single target." The changing cloud and weather
systems of the globe are being revealed by a large number of molecules in a
single spectrum from Webb.
On Wednesday, the study was released in The Astrophysical Journal
Letters.
