Hydrogen Sulfide Gas Discovered On An Alien Planet Similar To Jupiter
Date
7/13/2024 10:19:49 PM
(MENAFN- AzerNews)
A strong-smelling hydrogen sulfide gas has been found in the
atmosphere of an alien planet similar to Jupiter, smelling of
scattered eggs. This is the first terrestrial chemical found on any
exoplanet, Azernews reports.
The planet known as HD 189733b, discovered in 2005, is already a
very extreme place: a red-hot gas giant slightly larger than
Jupiter, with a bright cobalt blue color and a violent atmosphere,
with a rain of molten glass blowing away.
New data from the James Webb Space Telescope has revealed
hydrogen sulfide, the chemical compound responsible for the smell
of eggs, scientists have discovered. This is the only case for
celestial bodies outside our Solar system called planets.
"Yes, smelly gas is a rare phenomenon for exoplanets," wrote
Guangquai Fu, an astrophysicist at Johns Hopkins University in
Baltimore, in an article published in the journal Nature. "This is
not the planet that we humans want to visit, but it is a valuable
discovery that contributes to our understanding of planetary
science."
This planet is called "hot Jupiter". Scientists believe that the
largest gas giants of the Solar system, similar to planets, are
hotter because they are closer to their stars. HD 189733b orbits
its star 170 times closer than Jupiter's distance from the Sun.
Unlike Jupiter, which takes 12 years to orbit the Sun, it makes a
complete revolution around the Sun every two days.
In fact, this planet orbits 13 times closer to its star than
Mercury does to the Sun, and the temperature of the planet facing
the star is about 930 degrees Celsius.
This planet is located 64 light-years from Earth, in the
vicinity of the Milky Way galaxy, in the constellation
Chanterelles. A light-year is the distance that light travels in
one year, and it is equal to 9.5 trillion kilometers.
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