WASP-127b is a very unusual exoplanet, and that's what has piqued the interest of astronomers. An exoplanet is simply a planet that resides our Solar System, but what makes 127b interesting is its orbit and its size.

The exoplanet is 1.4 times the size of Jupiter, but only 20 percent dense in comparison to it. It has a surface temperature of 1,127 degrees Celsius, and it takes around four days to orbit its star, WASP-127. Thus making it a giant gas planet.

According to the report in Outer Places, WASP-127b is one of the last places that one would expect to find water, but according to a team of astronomers in the University of Cambridge and the Instituto de Astrofiscica de Canarias (IAC) in Spain, due to the planet being extremely metallic, it is possible that it may contain water.

They were able to analyse this by observing the planet through the 'Gran Telescopio Canaris' in the Canary Islands since the planet has about 50 percent clear skies.

The report also claims that the exoplanet atmosphere is filled with sodium, potassium and lithium. Even the planet's star is full of lithium.

The report further states that researches are "hesitant" of concluding that there is water, but have declared that there are possible signs that the planet may contain water.

The James Webb Space Telescope is scheduled to launch in 2020 and may help in exploring whatever is hidden under the "clear, metallic skies" of WASP-127b.

Here's a video of the WASP-127b orbiting the star. </s> Scientists have identified traces of multiple metals, along with possible signs of water, in one of the least dense exoplanets ever found. The team, from the University of Cambridge in the UK and the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias (IAC) in Spain used the Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC) to observe WASP-127b, a giant gaseous planet with partly clear skies and strong signatures of metals in its atmosphere.

WASP-127b has a radius 1.4 times larger than Jupiter but has only 20 per cent of its mass. Such a planet has no analogue in our solar system and is rare even within the thousands of exoplanets discovered to date. It takes just over four days to orbit its parent star and its surface temperature is around 1127 degree Celsius. The observations of WASP-127b reveal the presence of a large concentration of alkali metals in its atmosphere, allowing simultaneous detections of sodium, potassium and lithium for the first time in an exoplanet.

The sodium and potassium absorptions are very broad, which is characteristic of relatively clear atmospheres. According to modelling work done by the researchers, the skies of WASP-127b are approximately 50 per cent clear. “The particular characteristics of this planet allowed us to perform a detailed study of its rich atmospheric composition,” said Guo Chen, a postdoctoral researcher at IAC. “The presence of lithium is important to understand the evolutionary history of the planetary system and could shed light on the mechanisms of planet formation,” said Chen.

The planet’s host star, WASP-127, is also lithium rich, which could point to an AGB star – a bright red giant thousands of times brighter than the Sun – or a supernova having enriched the cloud of material from which this system originated. The researchers also found possible signs of water. “While this detection is not statistically significant, as water features are weak in the visible range, our data indicate that additional observations in the near-infrared should be able to detect it,” said Enric Palle also from IAC. The results demonstrate the potential of ground-based telescopes for the study of planetary atmospheres.

For all the latest Technology News, download Indian Express App </s> WASP-127b is the first exoplanet detected that holds alkali metals which include lithium, sodium and potassium.

A team of researchers from the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) in Spain and the University of Cambridge have published a new study showing that Exoplanet WASP-127b is likely to hold multiple metals in its atmosphere as judged by its ‘fingerprints’, while there is also the distinct possibility that the exoplanet may also harbor water.

Scientists used the Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC) to determine that this exoplanet features skies that are around 50 percent clear. It was also discovered that while WASP-127b only has around 20 percent of the mass of Jupiter, its radius was still found to be 1.4 times more enormous, as Phys.org report.

There is no planet in our solar system that is comparable to WASP-127b and even amongst other exoplanets, it has been found to be very rare indeed. The length of time this exoplanet takes to complete the orbit around its sun has been measured as being just four days and the temperature on the surface of this gaseous planet is estimated to be a whopping 1400 K (1127° C).

In what marks a first for an exoplanet, the atmosphere of WASP-127b was found to hold the alkali metals of lithium, sodium, and potassium, and the detection of sodium and potassium is an indicator that this exoplanet most likely has a fairly clear atmosphere.

The IAC’s Dr. Guo Chen, who is also the lead author of the new study, confirmed that the presence of lithium may be the key to understanding more about how this particular exoplanet evolved over time.

The host star of this planet, WASP-127, was also found to hold a large amount of lithium, which means that it is highly possible it is an AGB star.

The co-author of the new research, co-author Enric Pallé, observed that detecting the presence of water on this planet will be helped greatly in the future with near-infrared.

The new study on the presence of multiple metals as well as the possible presence of water on Exoplanet WASP-127b has been published in Astronomy & Astrophysics. </s> Fingerprints of metals and possible traces of water found in low-density exoplanet. Pictured, an artist's conception depicting the Kepler-10 star system, located about 560 light-years away near the Cygnus and Lyra constellations.

An international team of astronomers detected "fingerprints" of metals in the atmosphere of an exoplanet for the first time as well as possible signs of water, a find that could bolster the search for life beyond Earth.

Sitting 332 light years away from Earth, WASP-127b is one of the least dense gas giant exoplanets ever discovered, a feature which makes it unique among thousands of extra-solar worlds cataloged to date. Though it’s nearly one and a half times bigger than Jupiter, our Solar System’s largest planet, the mass of the alien world is not even half of what Jupiter has on offer.

More importantly, the exoplanet takes a little over four days to complete a single orbit of its host star and is heated to temperatures of up to 1,127 degrees Celsius (2060.6 degrees Fahrenheit). The characteristic makes this world one hell of a place to live, but, despite knowing this since the planet’s discovery in 2016, a team of researchers from the University of Cambridge and the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) used it as a subject of study while using the Gran Telescopio Canarias, a reflecting telescope in Spain.

The team observed the atmospheric composition of the exoplanet and detected fingerprints signaling a high concentration of alkali metals, mainly sodium, potassium, and lithium. The discovery, a first on an exoplanet, and some modeling work also helped the team determine that the skies of the planet are partly clear.

“The detection of a trace element such as lithium in a planetary atmosphere is a major breakthrough and motivates new follow-up observations and detailed theoretical modeling to corroborate the findings,” study co-author Nikku Madhusudhan said in a statement. The team believes the discovery of lithium could provide critical insight into the formation of the planet and the evolution of the WASP-127 system. Even the star of the planet, WASP-127, is rich in lithium, which suggests it could be a red giant, thousands of times bigger than the Sun, or a supernova.

“The particular characteristics of this planet allowed us to perform a detailed study of its rich atmospheric composition,” study’s first author Guo Chen said in the statement.

But that’s not it. Along with traces of metal in the atmosphere, the team also found possible signs of water, which, if confirmed, could mean a major breakthrough in the field of astronomy. “While this detection is not statistically significant, as water features are weak in the visible range, our data indicate that additional observations in the near-infrared should be able to detect it,” co-author Enric Pallé said of the possible discovery of water.

The team adds that further observations from James Webb Space Telescope, NASA’s successor to the Hubble, should be able to take a close look at the atmosphere of WASP-127b and reveal more about the low-density gas giant and its characteristics.

The study titled, “The GTC exoplanet transit spectroscopy survey IX. Detection of Haze, Na, K, and Li in the super-Neptune WASP-127b,” will be published in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics and an arXiv preprint is available online. </s> Out in the cold, dark cosmos, a team of astronomers has discovered an exoplanet that is completely cloud-free.

The Kepler Space Telescope has contributed a great deal to astronomy, revealing thousands of strange exoplanets against the backdrop of the blackness of space.

And, sometimes, it helps astronomers find a particular planet that, to those of us on Earth, sounds truly alien.

The latest one to join that list is a ‘hot Saturn’ dubbed WASP-96b, analysed in detail by a team of international astronomers led by Dr Nikolay Nikolov from the University of Exeter and including Dr Ernst de Mooij from Dublin City University’s School of Physical Sciences.

Publishing their findings to Nature, the team revealed that a unique set of circumstances mean that WASP-96b has an atmosphere completely free of clouds.

Using the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope in Chile, the team studied the atmosphere of WASP-96b when the planet passed in front of its host star. This allowed them to measure the decrease of starlight caused by the planet and its atmosphere, thereby determining the planet’s atmospheric composition.

In the same way that a person’s fingerprints can reveal their identity, atoms and molecules can be identified through spectral analysis. In the case of WASP-96b, the results showed sodium.

This was important in determining the planet’s chemical composition because sodium can only be detected on a cloud-free planet.

WASP-96b has a sweltering average temperature of more than 1,000C and a mass similar to Saturn, but it is about 20pc larger than Jupiter.

It was the only planet out of 20 analysed during the study to show a cloud-free atmosphere.

“Until now, sodium was revealed either as a very narrow peak or found to be completely missing,” Nikolov said.

“This is because the characteristic ‘tent-shaped’ profile can only be produced deep in the atmosphere of the planet and for most [planets] clouds appear to get in the way.”

Speaking of its importance to our understanding of similar planets, de Mooij of DCU said: “WASP-96b will also provide us with a unique opportunity to determine the abundances of other molecules such as water, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide with future observations.” </s> Much like detectives who study fingerprints to identify the culprit, scientists used NASA's Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes to find the "fingerprints" of water in the atmosphere of a hot, bloated, Saturn-mass exoplanet some 700 light-years away. And, they found a lot of water. In fact, the planet, known as WASP-39b, has three times as much water as Saturn does.

Though no planet like this resides in our solar system, WASP-39b can provide new insights into how and where planets form around a star, say researchers. This exoplanet is so unique, it underscores the fact that the more astronomers learn about the complexity of other worlds, the more there is to learn about their origins. This latest observation is a significant step toward characterizing these worlds.

Although the researchers predicted they'd see water, they were surprised by how much water they found in this "hot Saturn." Because WASP-39b has so much more water than our famously ringed neighbor, it must have formed differently. The amount of water suggests that the planet actually developed far away from the star, where it was bombarded by a lot of icy material. WASP-39b likely had an interesting evolutionary history as it migrated in, taking an epic journey across its planetary system and perhaps obliterating planetary objects in its path.

"We need to look outward so we can understand our own solar system," explained lead investigator Hannah Wakeford of the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, and the University of Exeter in Devon, United Kingdom. "But exoplanets are showing us that planet formation is more complicated and more confusing than we thought it was. And that's fantastic!"

Wakeford and her team were able to analyze the atmospheric components of this exoplanet, which is similar in mass to Saturn but profoundly different in many other ways. By dissecting starlight filtering through the planet's atmosphere into its component colors, the team found clear evidence for water. This water is detected as vapor in the atmosphere.

Using Hubble and Spitzer, the team has captured the most complete spectrum of an exoplanet's atmosphere possible with present-day technology. "This spectrum is thus far the most beautiful example we have of what a clear exoplanet atmosphere looks like," said Wakeford.

"WASP-39b shows exoplanets can have much different compositions than those of our solar system," said co-author David Sing of the University of Exeter. "Hopefully, this diversity we see in exoplanets will give us clues in figuring out all the different ways a planet can form and evolve."

Located in the constellation Virgo, WASP-39b whips around a quiet, Sun-like star, called WASP-39, once every four days. The exoplanet is currently positioned more than 20 times closer to its star than Earth is to the Sun. It is tidally locked, meaning it always shows the same face to its star.

Its day-side temperature is a scorching 1,430 degrees Fahrenheit (776.7 degrees Celsius). Powerful winds transport heat from the dayside around the planet, keeping the permanent nightside almost as hot. Although it is called a "hot Saturn," WASP-39b is not known to have rings. Instead, is has a puffy atmosphere that is free of high-altitude clouds, allowing Wakeford and her team to peer down into its depths.

Looking ahead, Wakeford hopes to use NASA's James Webb Space Telescope - scheduled to launch in 2019 - to get an even more complete spectrum of the exoplanet. Webb will be able to give information about the planet's atmospheric carbon, which absorbs light at longer infrared wavelengths than Hubble can see. By understanding the amount of carbon and oxygen in the atmosphere, scientists can learn even more about where and how this planet formed.

The Hubble Space Telescope is a project of international cooperation between NASA and ESA (European Space Agency). NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages the telescope. The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore conducts Hubble science operations. STScI is operated for NASA by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., in Washington.

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, manages the Spitzer Space Telescope mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Science operations are conducted at the Spitzer Science Center at Caltech in Pasadena. Spacecraft operations are based at Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company, Littleton, Colorado. Data are archived at the Infrared Science Archive housed at IPAC at Caltech. Caltech manages JPL for NASA.

For more information about NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov/hubble

For more information about NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov/spitzer

News Media Contact

Calla CofieldJet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.818-354-5011calla.e.cofield@jpl.nasa.govAnn Jenkins / Ray VillardSpace Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, Maryland410-338-4488 / 410-338-4514jenkins@stsci.edu / villard@stsci.edu2018-041 </s> "WASP-39b shows exoplanets can have much different compositions than those of our solar system," said co-author David Sing of the University of Exeter in Devon, United Kingdom. "Hopefully this diversity we see in exoplanets will give us clues in figuring out all the different ways a planet can form and evolve."

Much like detectives study fingerprints to identify the culprit, scientists used NASA's Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes to find the "fingerprints" of water in the atmosphere of a hot, bloated, Saturn-mass exoplanet some 700 light-years away. And, they found a lot of water. In fact, the planet, known as WASP-39b, has three times as much water as Saturn does.

Though no planet like this resides in our solar system, WASP-39b can provide new insights into how and where planets form around a star, say researchers. This exoplanet is so unique, it underscores the fact that the more astronomers learn about the complexity of other worlds, the more there is to learn about their origins. This latest observation is a significant step toward characterizing these worlds.

Although the researchers predicted they'd see water, they were surprised by how much water they

found in this "hot Saturn." Because WASP-39b has so much more water than our famously ringed neighbor, it must have formed differently. The amount of water suggests that the planet actually developed far away from the star, where it was bombarded by a lot of icy material. WASP-39b likely had an interesting evolutionary history as it migrated in, taking an epic journey across its planetary system and perhaps obliterating planetary objects in its path.

"We need to look outward so we can understand our own solar system," explained lead investigator Hannah Wakeford of the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Maryland, and the University of Exeter in Devon, United Kingdom. "But exoplanets are showing us that planet formation is more complicated and more confusing than we thought it was. And that's fantastic!"

Wakeford and her team were able to analyze the atmospheric components of this exoplanet, which is similar in mass to Saturn but profoundly different in many other ways. By dissecting starlight filtering through the planet's atmosphere into its component colors, the team found clear evidence for water. This water is detected as vapor in the atmosphere.

Using Hubble and Spitzer, the team has captured the most complete spectrum of an exoplanet's atmosphere possible with present-day technology. "This spectrum is thus far the most beautiful example we have of what a clear exoplanet atmosphere looks like," said Wakeford.

Located in the constellation Virgo, WASP-39b whips around a quiet, Sun-like star, called WASP-39, once every four days. The exoplanet is currently positioned more than 20 times closer to its star than Earth is to the Sun. It is tidally locked, meaning it always shows the same face to its star.

Its day-side temperature is a scorching 1,430 degrees Fahrenheit (776.7 degrees Celsius). Powerful winds transport heat from the day-side around the planet, keeping the permanent night-side almost as hot. Although it is called a "hot Saturn," WASP-39b is not known to have rings. Instead, is has a puffy atmosphere that is free of high-altitude clouds, allowing Wakeford and her team to peer down into its depths.

Looking ahead, Wakeford hopes to use the James Webb Space Telescope - scheduled to launch in 2019 - to get an even more complete spectrum of the exoplanet. Webb will be able to give information about the planet's atmospheric carbon, which absorbs light at longer, infrared wavelengths than Hubble can see. By understanding the amount of carbon and oxygen in the atmosphere, scientists can learn even more about where and how this planet formed.

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"Stop Saying That Dinosaurs Went Extinct. They Didn't" </s> Scientists have spotted a ‘surprising’ amount of water in the atmosphere around a massive planet far beyond our solar system.

The planet, known as WASP-39b, sits roughly 700 light-years away and is estimated to have three times more water in its vicinity than Saturn.

While scientists have previously drawn parallels between the two planets due to their similar masses, the extreme difference in water content suggests WASP-39b formed in a different way than our ringed neighbour.

WASP-39b is a scorching ‘hot Saturn’ exoplanet in the constellation Virgo.

It orbits a sun-like star once every four days, at a distance 20 times closer than Earth is to the sun.

And, on the day side, temperatures can reach 1,430 degrees Fahrenheit (776.7 degrees Celsius).

On the permanent night side, temperatures are nearly as hot due to powerful winds which transport heat around the planet.

While WASP-39b certainly wouldn’t make a nice place to live, the experts say its surprising atmosphere can help improve our understanding of the planets and processes in our own solar system.

Scientists initially expected to find water when analyzing the fingerprints of different compounds in the exoplanet’s atmosphere.

But, they weren’t prepared to find so much.

Based on the high amount of water, the experts say WASP-39b likely formed far away from its star and was bombarded with icy material.

Then, it migrated closer in an ‘epic journey’ across its system.

‘We need to look outward so we can understand our own solar system,’ said lead investigator Hannah Wakeford of the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Maryland, and the University of Exeter in Devon, UK.

‘But exoplanets are showing us that planet formation is more complicated and more confusing than we thought it was. And that’s fantastic.’

Though WASP-39b is compared to Saturn, the two planets are very different in a number of ways – the most obvious being that WASP-39b does not have rings.

And, its atmosphere is a ‘puffy’ environment free of high-altitude clouds, giving scientists an unprecedented look at the region around an exoplanet.

The team used data from the Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes to find the ‘fingerprints’ of water and other molecules.

With this, they’ve captured what they say is the most complete spectrum of an exoplanet’s atmosphere yet.

‘This spectrum is thus far the most beautiful example we have of what a clear exoplanet atmosphere looks like,’ Wakeford said.

Using the upcoming James Webb Space Telescope, the researchers say they could soon obtain an even more detailed look at the exoplanet’s atmosphere, revealing insight on its atmospheric carbon.

Carbon absorbs light at longer, infrared wavelengths than Hubble is able to detect, according to the team.

With further studies on its carbon and oxygen concentrations, the scientists will be able to better understand how it formed.

‘WASP-39b shows exoplanets can have much different compositions than those of our solar system,’ said co-author David Ding of the University of Exeter in Devon.

‘Hopefully this diversity we see in exoplanets will give us clues in figuring out all the different ways a planet can form and evolve.’ </s> An important arm of exoplanet research involves the study of the atmospheres that surround these distant worlds. The molecules they hold can reveal valuable insights into what kind conditions can be found there – along with ones that cannot. Such is the case for scientists studying WASP-96b, who are now claiming to have discovered the first exoplanet to be free of clouds.

Described as a "hot Saturn," WASP-96b circles a Sun-like star around 980 light years away in the constellation of Pheonix. Astronomers at the University of Exeter and Dublin City University were observing the planet with the Very Large Telescope in Chile, studying its atmosphere as it passed in front of its host star.

This technique is known as the transit method and involves detecting the dimming of a host star by an exoplanet passing in front of it. NASA's Kepler Space Telescope has discovered the presence of thousands of exoplanets using this method, but by looking at what kind of light that makes its way through, scientists can also draw conclusions about a planet's atmosphere.

This is because an atmosphere will block certain wavelengths of light depending on the kinds of molecules and atoms within it, creating a unique spectrum for that planet. And it just so happens that the unique signature of WASP-96b contains the complete fingerprint for sodium, a chemical element that produces a tent-shaped spectra and can only be seen in atmospheres without clouds.

"Until now, sodium was revealed either as a very narrow peak or found to be completely missing," says Nikolay Nikolov, lead author from the University of Exeter. "This is because the characteristic 'tent-shaped' profile can only be produced deep in the atmosphere of the planet and for most planets clouds appear to get in the way."

The team was also able to measure the abundance of sodium in the atmosphere of WASP-96b, observing levels similar to those found in our own Solar System. Its presence suggests that the exoplanet WASP-96b has an atmosphere free of clouds, which not only furthers our understanding of the universe, but also clears the way for further inspection.

"WASP-96b will also provide us with a unique opportunity to determine the abundances of other molecules, such as water, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide with future observations," says co-author Ernst de Mooij, from Dublin City University.
A study has been revealed that WASP-127b might have possible traces of water.