"This particular exoplanet quickly captured astronomers' attention with its extreme variations in brightness. Most objects in space appear to blink, due either to physical changes within the planet or star, or external factors. For super-Jupiter exoplanets, Zhang said, this change in brightness is usually minimal, hovering at 1 to 2%. But on VHS 1256b, brightness variations neared 40%, the largest ever recorded for an object of its size."
"In 2023, Skemer and his former graduate student Brittany Miles co-authored a paper revealing the chemical makeup of the planet's atmosphere, home to silicate clouds made of sand-like crystals that are vaporized and then condensed. Still, questions remained. Most notably, scientists wondered how these clouds were distributed across the planet, and whether they could account for the huge fluctuations in brightness."
VHS 1256b is an object with Jupiter-like volume but 10 to 20 times Jupiter's mass, classed as a super-Jupiter or brown dwarf. The planet exhibits extreme brightness variations approaching 40%, far above the 1–2% typical for similar objects. Observations with the James Webb Space Telescope revealed an atmosphere containing silicate clouds composed of sand-like crystals that vaporize and recondense. Scientists questioned whether cloud distribution drives the large brightness swings. A modified general circulation model was applied to study the planet's atmospheric dynamics, revealing substantial differences from Jupiter and unexpected similarities to Mars.
Read at The Mercury News
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