They found an element near an exoplanet that they had no idea it was in space.
A group of astronomers made an unexpected chemical discovery, and found the heaviest element ever in the atmospheres of two exoplanets – IFLScience writes.
Astronomers have discovered something puzzling in the atmospheres of two exoplanets: barium. https://t.co/bQMd3pAeCK
– IFLScience (IFLScience) October 15 2022
The two outer planets are two gas giants named WASP-76 b and WASP-121 b. The research team used the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope in Chile to observe the planets, and in the process discovered something mysterious: barium.
# ESOCastLight Astronomers have discovered the heaviest element yet in the atmosphere of an exoplanet. They found barium, which is 2.5 times heavier than iron #BiteSizedAstronomy #4K # uhd pic.twitter.com/NrKvWMNdVP
– ESO (ESO) October 13, 2022
Barium, the 56th member of the periodic table, is the heaviest element ever discovered in the atmosphere of an exoplanet. The Journal of Astronomy and Astrophysics published a detailed study of the discovery on Thursday.
WASP-76b and WASP-121b become more and more mysterious to scientists with each discovery.
These giant gaseous exoplanets orbit near their stars, much closer than Mercury to the Sun. However, it is not clear how barium got so high, because it is two and a half times heavier than iron.
“The confusing and controversial part is: Why is there such a heavy element in the upper atmosphere of these planets?” asked the lead author of the study, Tomas Azevedo Silva.
The specialist highlighted: “It was, in a sense, an ‘accidental’ discovery. We weren’t expecting it, and we weren’t specifically looking for barium, so we had to check if it really came from the planet, because we hadn’t seen it on any exoplanet before.”
“Given the high gravity of the planets, we would expect heavy elements like barium to quickly fall into the lower atmosphereCo-author Oliver Demangon added.
The presence of barium in the upper atmosphere suggests to scientists that we know less about the atmospheres of these planets than previously thought.
