Researchers at Lund University in Sweden have developed a new method for analyzing the atmospheres of exoplanets. WITH
The researchers used data from twospectrographs HARPS-N and CARMENES, which observed the transit of exoplanet KELT-9 b. The researchers developed a method that filtered out the dominant signals in this world's atmosphere. Among previously known elements, they observed for the first time terbium, a rare earth metal from the lanthanide family.
KELT-9 b is a hot exoplanet rotatingaround a star located at a distance of about 670 light years from Earth. The temperature on this hot Jupiter is about 4,000 °C. It is currently the hottest known exoplanet.
Using a modified observation methodplanetary scientists have found traces of many different elements in the atmosphere of this exoplanet, including terbium, for the first time on an exoplanet. It is a rare earth metal with an atomic number of 65, related to the lanthanides, and the new "heaviest element on an exoplanet." This substance is very rare in nature, and today 99% of the world's terbium production comes from a single mining area in Inner Mongolia.
The results of this study complementprevious discovery. Earlier this month, another team of researchers reported the discovery of samarium, another element from the lantinoid family, in the atmosphere of the ultra-hot Jupiter MASCARA-4b. “Detecting heavy elements on superhot exoplanets is a step towards understanding how their atmospheres work,” say the authors of the new study.
Read more:
Bears separated in childhood reunited: the zoo told how it all went
Light in the early universe: a new theory changes the way it was
See what happened to Mercury when it got as close as possible to the Sun
On the cover: an artistic illustration of an ultra-hot Jupiter. Image: Bibiana Prinoth, Lund University