For a decade the Pink Planet was too faint for any ground telescope to study - and when James Webb finally caught its spectrum, the best fit to the light was an atmosphere hazed with salt clouds
Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope have successfully analyzed the spectrum of the 'Pink Planet' (GJ 504 b), revealing an atmosphere likely composed of salt clouds. This discovery provides the first direct evidence for salt clouds in a cold planetary-mass object.
Why it matters
This finding validates long-standing theoretical models regarding atmospheric composition in cold, giant exoplanets and brown dwarfs.
For more than a decade, one of the coldest worlds ever photographed around another star kept slipping out of reach.
The article is a straightforward scientific report on astronomical findings.
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