Atmosphere 1,500 degrees Celsius, full of quartz crystals

Since its launch, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has revolutionized astronomers' understanding of distant planets beyond Earth.

Recently, the James Webb Space Telescope found tiny quartz nanocrystals in high-altitude clouds at a giant exoplanet, named WASP-17 b.

WASP-17 b is about 1,300 light-years from Earth in the constellation Scorpius. The intense heat from the star has caused its atmosphere to expand, giving it a diameter nearly twice that of Jupiter, despite having only half its mass.

As such, WASP-17b is considered one of the largest and puffiest planets known.

WASP-17 b is classified as a hot exoplanet. Out in space, this exoplanet is blasted with huge amounts of radiation, experiencing extremely high temperatures of around 1,500 degrees Celsius, due to its proximity to its host star.

WASP-17b is located about 1,300 light-years from Earth in the constellation Scorpio. (Photo: Google)

The quartz crystals in WASP-17 b's clouds are shaped like hexagonal prisms. Others have pointed structures like quartz on Earth, but they are only about 10 nanometers in size.

Scientists had previously known about aerosols (tiny particles that form clouds or haze in the atmosphere of WASP-17 b) from Hubble Space Telescope observations, but now they were even more surprised because these aerosols were made of quartz crystals, said David Grant, a researcher at the University of Bristol in the UK and lead author of the study.

While other exoplanets have found magnesium-rich quartz crystals, WASP-17 b's quartz crystals are more pure, said co-author Hannah Wakeford of the University of Bristol.

A cloud of quartz crystals covers the bulging exoplanet. (Photo: Google)

Unlike the mineral grains found in clouds on Earth, the quartz crystals detected in WASP-17b's clouds were not swept up from the exoplanet's rocky surface.

Instead, they originate from its atmosphere itself. “WASP-17b is extremely hot, around 1,500 degrees Celsius,” said Dr. Grant. “The extreme pressure causes quartz crystals to form in situ from the existing material.”

To make the discovery, the team used the James Webb Space Telescope's Infrared Survey Explorer to observe WASP-17 b as it transited its host star. The James Webb Space Telescope observed WASP-17 b for nearly 10 hours.

This extended observation period allowed the instrument to collect a large dataset, including more than 1,275 observations of brightness in the infrared bands of WASP-17 b's atmosphere, during and after its transit of its host star.

However, the research team also said that determining the exact amount of quartz present and the extent of cloud coverage on WASP-17 b is a big challenge.

HUYNH DUNG (Source: Interestingengineering/Space/Sci)

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