Glory effect: Rare rainbow-like rings observed on a planet outside our solar system

Scientists for the first time have observed a rare phenomenon, called the "glory effect" on a planet that is outside our solar system. The glory effect is a set of rainbow-like colorful concentric rings which occur only under peculiar conditions. Such rings are seen often on Earth, and apart from that the effect has only been found once on another planet, Venus.

In what seems to be the first extrasolar "glory", data by the European Space Agency's CHEOPS Exoplanet Characterization Satellite, along with several other ESA and NASA missions, showed that there could be rainbow rings between the unbearable heat on WASP-76b's day side that faces its sun and the endless night on its dark side.

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The hellish atmosphere of ultra-hot gas giant WASP-76b is estimated to be 637 light-years away from Earth. Scientists have said thatthis first extrasolar glory will reveal more about the nature of this exoplanet if confirmed.

Olivier Demangeon, who is an astronomer at the Instituto de Astrofísica e Ciências do Espaço (Institute of Astrophysics and Space Sciences) in Portugal and lead author of the study, said, "There's a reason no glory has been seen before outside our Solar System – it requires very peculiar conditions."

"First, you need atmospheric particles that are close-to-perfectly spherical, completely uniform and stable enough to be observed over a long time. The planet's nearby star needs to shine directly at it, with the observer – here Cheops – at just the right orientation," Demangeon added.

Matthew Standing, an ESA Research Fellow studying exoplanets, explained, "What's important to keep in mind is the incredible scale of what we're witnessing. WASP-76b is several hundred light-years away – an intensely hot gas giant planet where it likely rains molten iron. Despite the chaos, it looks like we've detected the potential signs of a glory. It's an incredibly faint signal."