Astronomers Have Found a Naked Hot Jupiter Steaming Up The Neighbourhood
27 JANUARY 2021
Ever wonder what Jupiter would look like naked, without its thick coat of turbulent clouds? An exoplanet 575 light-years away might be the answer to the question you didn t ask.
The exoplanet is a gas giant called WASP-62b, and, according to an analysis of starlight that passed through its atmosphere, the exoplanet is completely starkers. There s not even a whisper of cloud or haze.
Instead, the atmosphere is completely clear - something that is not only almost vanishingly rare in exoplanets, but gives us a unique opportunity to peer inside and see what the atmosphere is made of.