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Wasp-76b: The exotic inferno planet where it 'rains iron'


StringJunky

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Astronomers have observed a distant planet where it probably rains iron.

It sounds like a science fiction movie, but this is the nature of some of the extreme worlds we're now discovering.

Wasp-76b, as it's known, orbits so close in to its host star, its dayside temperatures exceed 2,400C - hot enough to vaporise metals.

The planet's nightside, on the other hand, is 1,000 degrees cooler, allowing those metals to condense and rain out.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-51828871

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