Exoplanet Host Star Shares Elemental Traits with Its Hot Jupiter

Astronomers discovered that a giant planet, WASP-189b, echoes the composition of its host star, HR 5599. This find was achieved through the first-ever simultaneous measurement of gaseous magnesium and silicon in a planet’s atmosphere. Courtesy NOIRLab.

An ultra-hot Jupiter exoplanet orbiting a nearby star gave scientists using the Gemini South telescope a look at how both a star and its hot planet can have similar chemical compositions. The team, led by Arizona State University graduate student Jorge Antonio Sanchez, took spectra of the planet, called WASP-189b, using the Immersion Grating Infrared Spectrograph instrument. The observations measured the abundance of magnesium compared to silicon in the hot planet’s atmosphere and allowed the team to compare it to the makeup of its parent star.

Universe Today
Go to Source

Comments are closed, but trackbacks and pingbacks are open.