Heaviest element ever found in exoplanet atmosphere by Very Large Telescope
The IndependentSign up to our free weekly IndyTech newsletter delivered straight to your inbox Sign up to our free IndyTech newsletter Sign up to our free IndyTech newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. That element – barium – shocked scientists when it appeared in the atmospheres around two distant planets, WASP-76 b and WASP-121 b. The new findings came from the Very Large Telescope, operating by the European SouthernObservatory, which is able to capture starlight as it filters through the planets’ atmosphere, and gives a clue to how they might look. The new research is described in a paper, ‘Detection of Barium in the atmospheres of ultra-hot gas giants WASP-76b & WASP-121b’, published in Astronomy & Astrophysics.
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