Astronomers are looking for clouds made of vaporized gems and metals on faraway exoplanets.
Another of Kataria's projects with JWST is to observe the hot Jupiter HD 80606b, which is 290 light-years from Earth and is on a highly eccentric orbit that loops around its star, bringing it as close as 2.8 million miles and taking it as far as 81 miles . As a result, HD 80606b experiences 'flash heating' when its temperature rises from 930 degrees F to 2,200 degrees F in a matter of hours as it speeds close to its star.
A computer-simulated thermal map of HD 80606b as it experiences flash heating and terrifically violent storms as it reaches its closest point to its star. Finally, Kataria is co-leading a project along with Brian Kilpatrick of the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore to create 3D 'eclipse maps' of the exoplanet HD 189733b with JWST's Mid-Infrared Instrument . Eclipse maps are made when a planet moves behind its star. By subtracting the faint signature of the planet's light from the star's light as the planet moves into eclipse, scientists can isolate the planet's light and map the temperature of its atmosphere.
This exoplanet, which is 64.5 light-years away from Earth, was discovered in 2005 and has since become one of the best studied hot Jupiters. Several other projects will also observe HD 189733b with JWST, including an effort to perform a deep survey of the molecular composition of the planet's atmosphere and determine the composition of any clouds present, as well as an effort to search for aerosols of vaporized minerals that form clouds in HD 189733b's atmosphere.
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