A team of European astronomers used recent observations made with the James Webb Space Telescope to study the atmosphere of the nearby exoplanet WASP-107b.
- They discovered not only water vapour and sulfur dioxide, but even silicate sand clouds.
- These particles reside within a dynamic atmosphere that exhibits vigorous transport of material.
About WASP-107b
- WASP-107b, a unique gaseous exoplanet that orbits a star slightly cooler and less massive than our Sun.
- The mass of WASP-107b is similar to that of Neptune but its size is much larger than that of Neptune, almost approaching the size of Jupiter.
- This characteristic renders WASP-107b rather ‘fluffy’ when compared to the gas giant planets within our solar system.
- The fluffiness of exoplanet WASP-107b enables astronomers to look roughly 50 times deeper into its atmosphere compared to the depth of exploration achieved for a solar-system giant like Jupiter.
