Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope detected quartz crystals made of silica, a common Earth mineral, in the atmosphere of a hot exoplanet.
Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope have for the first time detected tiny quartz crystals containing silica — a common mineral on Earth — within the atmosphere of a blazing hot exoplanet. It’s likely that the nanoparticles of silica, which on Earth appears in beach sands and is used to produce glass, swirl from the clouds of the exoplanet, known as WASP-17b, according to the researchers. First discovered in 2009, WASP-17b is a gas giant planet located 1,300 light-years from Earth.
Astronomers focused their observations on the exoplanet as it crossed in front of its star and starlight filtered through its atmosphere. After 10 hours of observation time, the team discovered a signature suggesting the presence of quartz nanoparticles.
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James Webb Space Telescope detects quartz crystals in an exoplanet's atmosphereKeith Cooper is a freelance science journalist and editor in the United Kingdom, and has a degree in physics and astrophysics from the University of Manchester.
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