Space / DAY 19 OF 40
A forecast with a chance of iron.
On one scorching exoplanet, the weather may involve metal.
Here's the strange part.
The forecast on WASP-76b is deeply unfriendly to umbrellas. Astronomers detected iron vapour at the planet's evening boundary but not its morning boundary. Their explanation: winds carry the vapour away from the scorching day side, and it condenses as the temperature drops. Iron rain may be the result. The telescope caught the vapour pattern, not individual metallic raindrops. (European Southern Observatory)
Astronomers measured iron vapour and inferred condensation. They did not directly watch individual drops of iron rain.
REALITY CHECK · TRUE OR FALSE?
Is that forecast carrying an umbrella?
The iron-rain explanation was inferred from a pattern in iron vapour.
Go straight to the receipts.
Curious about the methods, dates or details? Open the original source and keep the caveat in view.
ORIGINAL SOURCEEuropean Southern ObservatoryOpen publication ↗NEXT IN THE 40-DAY TRAIL / DAY 20Frozen frog. Still in the game. ↗