Researchers have found the heaviest element ever identified in the Atmospheres of Exoplanets

 

Astronomers have discovered the unexpected chemical element “Barium” high in the atmospheres of two sizzling exoplanets, where liquid iron and gemstones fall from the skies. Two exoplanets orbiting separate stars outside our solar system are super-hot gas giants named WASP-76b and WASP-121b.

Astronomers used the European Southern Observatory's Telescope to detect Barium at high altitudes in each exoplanet's atmosphere. WASP-76b and WASP-121b seem strangers to scientists.

“Why is there such a heavy element in the top layers of these planets’ atmospheres is perplexing and paradoxical portion?”, according to Tomás Azevedo Silva, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Porto and the Instituto de Astrofisica e Ciências do Espaço (IA) in Portugal who conducted the study published in Astronomy & Astrophysics. Added that "This was sort of an inadvertent discovery”. We weren't expecting or looking for Barium in particular, but it's never been seen on an exoplanet before, so this may be indeed the case." We had to confirm they were from a planet, but they have incredibly hot surface temperatures well over 1,832 degrees Fahrenheit (1,000 degrees Celsius).

WASP-76b and WASP-121b's temperature rise is due to each planet's proximity to its parent star, which completes one orbit in about a day or two.
WASP-121b was first discovered in 2015 and about 855 light years from Earth. The exoplanet has a bright water vapor atmosphere, and the strong gravitational pull of the orbiting star causes it to morph into the shape of a soccer ball.
The planet is fixed in place, thus the same side of the planet constantly faces the star. This is comparable to how our moon orbits the Earth. Temperatures range from 4,040 F (2,227 C) at the bottom of the atmosphere to 5,840 F (3,227 C) at the top on the dayside.

In 2016, scientists discovered WASP-76b for the first time. It orbits the star in the Pisces constellation 640 light-years away from Earth. This exoplanet is also tidal, so temperatures on the dayside toward the star exceed 2,426°C (4,400°F).
The sizzling nature of the exoplanet has given the planet unusual features and weather that seem straight out of science fiction. Scientists believe that liquid iron is falling from the sky on WASP-76b, while clouds of metal and liquid gemstones are forming on WASP-121b.
The detection of Barium in each planet's upper atmosphere surprised researchers. The element weighs 2.5 times as much as iron. Heavy metals like Barium should fall quickly into the lower layers of the atmosphere given the planet's high gravity.

The presence of barium in the atmospheres of both exoplanets may suggest that the superhot gas giants have even stranger characteristics than first anticipated.
On Earth, Barium appears as a bright green color in the night sky when firecrackers go off. But scientists don't know what natural processes cause heavy elements to appear so high in the atmospheres of these gas giants.

"Being gaseous and hot, the atmosphere is very inflated," Demangeon said, "so it's easier to observe and study than smaller or colder planets."