Скачать или смотреть Quartz Crystals Seen In The Clouds Of Exoplanet WASP-17b By Webb

This is a transmission spectrum of the hot gas giant exoplanet WASP-17 b taken on March 12–13, 2023, using the cutting-edge Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) on the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope. It presents the first proof of quartz (crystalline silica, SiO2) in an exoplanet's clouds.

This is the first exoplanet to have SiO2 detected in it, as well as the first transiting exoplanet to have any particular cloud species detected in it.

The spectrum was created by observing how the brightness of 28 mid-infrared wavelength bands changed when the planet passed in front of the star. Using MIRI's low-resolution spectrograph, Webb spent over ten hours observing the WASP-17 system, gathering more than 1275 data prior to, during, and following the transit.

The quantity of light that was obstructed by the planet's atmosphere (shown as white circles) for each wavelength was determined by deducting the amount of light that was initially released by the star from the amount that passed through the atmosphere.

The Webb (MIRI), Hubble, and Spitzer data (which span wavelengths from 0.34 to 4.5 microns and are not displayed on the graph) are best suited by the solid purple line. A distinct characteristic can be seen in the spectrum around 8.6 microns, which scientists believe is the result of silica particles absorbing portion of the starlight that is entering the atmosphere.

If there was no SiO2 in the clouds in the atmosphere of WASP-17 b, the dashed yellow line depicts what that region of the transmission spectrum would look like.

Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, R. Crawford (STScI), D. Grant (University of Bristol), H. R. Wakeford (University of Bristol), N. Lewis (Cornell University)

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