image: Air pollutants form the condensation nuclei for ice clouds or cirrus clouds (here: Cirrus spissatus). When ammonia, nitric acid and sulfuric acid are present together, they form such condensation nuclei particularly effectively. view more Credit: Joachim Curtius, Goethe-University Frankfurt, Germany FRANKFURT. The Asian monsoon transports enormous amounts of air from atmospheric layers close to Earth’s…
Since astronomers discovered the first planet orbiting a star other than the Sun, we have found many worlds that are very unlike the ones in our own Solar System. A large number of these “exoplanets” are large, gaseous planets roughly the size of Jupiter, orbiting close to their parent stars once every few days. Although…
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The weather on this piping hot exoplanet is truly out of this world. A massive gas giant orbiting a star about 855 light-years from Earth, WASP-121b may have metal clouds and rain made of liquid gems, according to new research. A study showing how water atmospherically cycles between the planet’s two sides was published Monday…
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Astronomers believe liquid jewels rain on this sizzling exoplanet that has metal vapour clouds. This study, published in Nature Astronomy, is a big step in deciphering the global cycles of matter and energy in the atmospheres of exoplanets. Using the Hubble Space Telescope, an international collaboration of scientists led by Thomas Mikal-Evans from the Max Planck…