WASP-121 b, an exoplanet located 855 light-years from Earth, is one of the most extreme worlds ever discovered. This scorching hot Jupiter is tidally locked to its star, with one side eternally scorched and the other cloaked in night.

On its blistering day side, temperatures soar above 3,000 K (2,700°C / 4,900°F), while the night side cools to around 1,500 K (1,226°C / 2,240°F). This dramatic contrast fuels violent winds that rip across the planet at incredible speeds, dragging atoms and water molecules from day to night.

On the cooler night side, metal clouds begin to form—composed of vanadium, iron, chromium, calcium, sodium, magnesium, and nickel. Scientists believe aluminum and oxygen may bond to create corundum—the mineral that, when laced with traces of other metals, forms liquid rubies and sapphires that may rain down from the sky.

Researchers aim to use the James Webb Space Telescope to search for carbon monoxide, unlocking new clues about the formation of hot Jupiters like WASP-121 b.

RESEARCH PAPER
Thomas Mikal-Evans et al., Diurnal variations in the stratosphere of the ultrahot giant exoplanet WASP-121b, Nature Astronomy (2022)

China is once again shaking up the world of astronomy — this time with a colossal 120-meter mobile radio telescope, reportedly under construction in Jilin. Unlike traditional static telescopes, this one can move and track objects across the sky in real-time, offering astronomers far more flexibility in deep-space exploration.

But that’s not all. This mega-telescope joins a growing network of 24 smaller 40-meter telescopes being installed across China, many of which support or complement the already-operational FAST (Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope) — the world’s largest stationary radio dish.

Together, these telescopes will allow China to detect faint signals from the farthest reaches of the cosmos, search for exoplanets, track asteroids, and even send calibrated signals to space with unprecedented accuracy.

While many countries scale back budgets, China is building the future of space science — one giant dish at a time.

#ChinaTelescope #FASTTelescope #RadioAstronomy #SpaceExploration #DeepSpaceScience

Meet BD+05 4868 b — one of the most extreme exoplanets ever found. Located 140 light-years away, this scorching world orbits its star every 30.5 hours, putting it 20 times closer than Mercury is to our Sun.

At that range, the heat is so intense it’s vaporizing the planet’s rocky surface, creating a dust tail over 9 million kilometers long — nearly half of its orbit!

Nicknamed the “melting Mercury”, this tiny planet is losing mass fast — about the size of Mount Everest every orbit. With weak gravity and a shrinking core, scientists believe the planet could completely vanish within 1 to 2 million years.

But there’s a silver lining: this doomed planet’s dusty trail gives astronomers a rare chance to study the interior makeup of a rocky exoplanet — potentially unlocking secrets of how planets form and what makes them habitable.

Research by: Marc Hon et al., The Astrophysical Journal Letters (2025)
Title: "A Disintegrating Rocky Planet with Prominent Comet-like Tails around a Bright Star"

#Exoplanet #SpaceDiscovery #Astronomy #MeltingPlanet #ScienceNews #Cosmos #JWST #SpaceDust #PlanetHunting #Astrophysics

Astronomers Discover the Hottest Brown Dwarf Ever!

Meet WD0032-317B — a record-breaking brown dwarf orbiting a white dwarf 1,400 light-years away, with a blazing day-side temperature between 7,250–9,800 K — hotter than the Sun’s surface (5,778 K)!

Spotted in a tight 2.3-hour orbit, this object is tidally locked, with a wild temperature swing of nearly 6,000 K between its day and night sides — far more extreme than even the famous exoplanet KELT-9b.

Key Highlights:

Mass: 75–88 Jupiter masses
Orbit: Just 2.3 hours around its white dwarf star
Host Star: 37,000 K, only 40% the mass of the Sun
Night Side: Cools to 1,300–3,000 K
Extreme UV Radiation is stripping its hydrogen-rich atmosphere apart

Why It Matters:
This discovery provides a rare window into how ultra-hot environments affect giant planets and brown dwarfs. It also shows how compact white dwarfs offer a unique observational advantage over larger stars like blue supergiants.

Published in Nature Astronomy (2023)
Title: “An irradiated-Jupiter analogue hotter than the Sun”
By: Na’ama Hallakoun et al.

Scientists have discovered that polymetallic nodules—rock formations found across the deep ocean floor—can generate oxygen through a surprising chemical process. Without needing sunlight, these nodules produce tiny electric currents that split water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen, essentially mimicking electrolysis in complete darkness.

This process, known as "dark oxygen" production, reveals that life in the ocean’s abyss might not rely solely on surface-driven photosynthesis. It also raises exciting prospects for finding life on oceanic exoplanets like Europa or Enceladus, where sunlight can’t reach but minerals and water might interact in similar ways.

#DeepSeaDiscovery #DarkOxygen #OceanScience #Astrobiology #DeepOceanRocks