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Astronomers have discovered the brightest planet yet. The planet reflects so much light that it actually acts like a mirror. The planet intrigues scientists.
Scientists write that in the journal Astronomy and astrophysics. It is the planet LTT-9779b (the small dot on the right of the image at the top of this article). It is located in the Milky Way, about 264 light years from Earth. The planet belongs to the Sculptor constellation, which can only be seen to a very limited extent from Earth.
LTT-9779b is a so-called exoplanet. These are planets that revolve around a star other than our sun. LTT-9779b reflects at least 80% of the light from this star and is therefore compared to a mirror. It is the brightest planet we have ever seen. In comparison, the Earth reflects about a third of the sunlight and Venus three quarters.
Because the planet is close to its star, it is also very hot. According to lead researcher James Jenkins, it’s so hot that all metals are melting and floating around the planet in clouds of glass and titanium, among other things.
The latter in particular intrigues astronomers. “This planet should not exist. Such an atmosphere is often washed away by their star, leaving only rock”, explains Vivien Parmentier, co-researcher.
On the surface, LTT-9779b can reach around 2,000 degrees Celsius. This should be too hot for clouds of any material or element. The European Space Agency (ESA) is studying the planet further to find out how.
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