A Weird Exoplanet With An ‘Ozone Layer’ Could Help Reveal New Earth-Like Planets Say Scientists
The atmospheres of all planets have layers like Earth’s. That’s the suggestions of a new study of the atmosphere of one of the most extreme exoplanets ever found.
It could have consequences for the search for Earth-like planets elsewhere in the cosmos.
With the successful recent launch of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST or simply “Webb”) astronomers will soon be able to study the atmospheres of distant exoplanets.
For a paper published this week in Nature Astronomy an international team of astronomers analyzed the atmosphere of WASP-189b—a “hot Jupiter” planet—in great detail using the CHEOPS Space Telescope.
About 322 light years from Earth in the constellation of Libra, WASP-189 is one of the most extreme known planets. It’s 20 times closer to its host star than Earth is to the Sun and has a daytime temperature of 5,800º F/3,200º C. A gas giant that orbits very close to its host star, it takes less than three days for it to circle its star and it’s 20 times closer to it than Earth is to the Sun.
What this new research reveals is that the atmosphere of WASP-189b may have distinct layers—just like Earth. While Earth’s atmosphere contains layers—such as the stratosphere, whose ozone layer protects us from the Sun’s harmful ultraviolet radiation— WASP-189b appears to have a layer of titanium that may act in a similar way.
As well as finding traces of iron, chromium, vanadium, magnesium and manganese in its atmosphere the team also detected titanium oxide. “Titanium oxide absorbs short wave radiation, such as ultraviolet radiation,” said Kevin Heng, study co-author, a professor of astrophysics at the University of Bern and a member of the NCCR PlanetS. “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.”
The researchers also found hints of other layers and believe the planet may also have strong winds.
“In the past, astronomers often assumed that the atmospheres of exoplanets exist as a uniform layer and try to understand it as such,” said Jens Hoeijmakers, study co-author and associate senior lecturer at Lund University in Denmark. “But our results demonstrate that even the atmospheres of intensely irradiated giant gas planets have complex three-dimensional structures.”
It’s hoped that the research will help astronomers understand the complexities of many other exoplanets – including Earth-like planets.
“We are convinced that to be able to fully understand these and other types of planets—including ones more similar to Earth—we need to appreciate the 3D nature of their atmospheres,” said Heng.
The study included researchers from the University of Bern and the University of Geneva as well as the National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) PlanetS. CHEOPS is a joint mission by the European Space Agency (ESA) and Switzerland, under the aegis of the University of Bern in collaboration with the University of Geneva.
Wishing you clear skies and wide eyes.
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