Many natural phenomena on Earth also occur on other planets in the solar system under the right conditions. Scientists have recently found evidence indicating the presence of something close to a rainbow on a strange exoplanet.

Many natural phenomena on Earth also occur on other planets in the solar system under the right conditions. Scientists have recently found evidence indicating the presence of something close to a rainbow on a strange exoplanet. "Glory" is a phenomenon which occurs when light hits clouds made up of homogeneous substances in the form of spherical droplets. This phenomenon is a possible explanation for a mystery regarding observations of exoplanet WASP-76B. WASP-76B is a scorching gas giant where molten iron rains. Researchers from ESA and the University of Bern in Switzerland have observed more light on its eastern terminator than its western terminator with the CHEOPS space telescope. CHEOPS has made 23 observations of WASP-76B in visible and infrared light, including phase curves, transits, and secondary eclipses. Phase curves are continuous observations that track a planet's complete revolution. When a host star eclipses its planet, a secondary eclipse occurs. Later, researchers compare the light seen during such an eclipse with the total light. Usually, they use secondary eclipses to observe planets like WASP-76B. ALSO READ | Sun fires massive solar flares directly at Earth; Australia, Japan and China witness radio blackouts Observations of the phase curve of WASP-76B can continue even when the planet is eclipsing its star. During such observations, CHEOPS detected excess light on the planet's night side before the eclipse. Since WASP-76B is a super hot exoplanet, clouds do not obscure the atmosphere during the day, making it easier to detect atmospheric detections. According to a previous study, researchers observed an asymmetry in iron content between the day-side and night-side terminators, making the planet unique. Moreover, there was not much gaseous iron in the upper atmosphere of the day-side limb compared to the night-side limb. Hubble observations suggest thermal inversion on the night side of a planet causes iron to rain down on the day side and form liquid iron clouds. These clouds are crucial as light from the star can create the effect of glory when it reflects off them. The research paper published in Astronomy & Astrophysics, "Explaining the observation with the glory effect would require spherical droplets of highly reflective, spherically shaped aerosols and clouds on the planet's eastern hemisphere." Glories have been seen off on Earth and in clouds of Venus. Similar to WASP-76B, researchers have observed more pre-eclipse light on Venus. Thus, future observations with more powerful telescopes can help determine how similar the phenomenon on WASP-76 is to that on Venus. These phenomena could reveal more about the atmospheric composition of exoplanets, including the presence of water and habitability. While the glory of WASP-76b is not yet proven, it is far from a simple rainbow. (With inputs from agencies)

Rainbow on exoplanet? Scientists discover glow coming from starlight reflecting off liquid iron

The solid inner core of Earth may not be completely solid at all, as per a new study. Unlike what is generally believed, the core is a hodgepodge patchwork of solid and liquid which flow all the way to the centre. 
 
The new research was carried out on the basis of faint echoes of earthquake waves which were seen bouncing back to the surface of the Earth from the depths of the planet. The research suggested that the inner core is more varied than what was previously understood. 
 
According to the findings, the inner core, which increases about a millimetre (0.04 inch) every year when the liquid outer core solidifies, is likely to have grown faster in the earlier times in the history of the Earth.

ALSO READ |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/science/supermoon-to-be-14000-miles-closer-to-earth-compared-to-a-full-moon-in-july-611176">Supermoon to be 14,000 miles closer to Earth in July compared to full moon</a>

“What's more, there may be swirls of liquid iron trapped inside the solid core,” said study senior author Keith Koper, a seismologist at the University of Utah, in a statement. 
 
"A long time ago the inner core grew really fast. It reached an equilibrium, and then it started to grow much more slowly. Not all of the iron became solid, so some liquid iron could be trapped inside,” Koper said. 
 
There is no process to directly access the core, so Koper and his team took into account data collected from 20 seismometers which were set up to measure earthquake waves and also monitor for nuclear weapons testing. 
 
The team also focused on waves which were triggered by earthquakes of magnitude 5.7 or above, and are big enough to send vibrations across the inner core, as the seismometer read a faint echo. 
 
"This signal that comes back from the inner core is really tiny. The size is about on the order of a nanometer. What we're doing is looking for a needle in a haystack. So these baby echoes and reflections are very hard to see,” Koper said.

<h2>Composition of Earth's core 'inhomogeneous'</h2>

The key finding, which was reported in the journal Nature on July 5, was that the composition of the core was "inhomogeneous," or varied. In other words, the earth's inner core did not smoothly solidify and is made up of a patchwork of different textures.

WATCH |&nbsp;Gravitas: Earth's axis is shifting

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"For the first time we confirmed that this kind of inhomogeneity is everywhere inside the inner core," said Guanning Pang, a postdoctoral researcher at Cornell University, who participated in the research as a doctoral student at the University of Utah in the statement. 
 
“Seismic waves scatter more the deeper they penetrate the core,” said Koper, indicating an increase in the amount of variability closer to the centre of the Earth. “This could be related to the changing rate of solidification of the core over time,” he added.

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The solid inner core of Earth may not be completely solid at all, as per a new study. Unlike what is generally believed, the core is a hodgepodge patchwork of solid and liquid which flow all the way to the centre.

The solid inner core of Earth may not be completely solid at all, as per a new study. Unlike what is generally believed, the core is a hodgepodge patchwork of solid and liquid which flow all the way to the centre. The new research was carried out on the basis of faint echoes of earthquake waves which were seen bouncing back to the surface of the Earth from the depths of the planet. The research suggested that the inner core is more varied than what was previously understood. According to the findings, the inner core, which increases about a millimetre (0.04 inch) every year when the liquid outer core solidifies, is likely to have grown faster in the earlier times in the history of the Earth. ALSO READ | Supermoon to be 14,000 miles closer to Earth in July compared to full moon “What's more, there may be swirls of liquid iron trapped inside the solid core,” said study senior author Keith Koper, a seismologist at the University of Utah, in a statement. "A long time ago the inner core grew really fast. It reached an equilibrium, and then it started to grow much more slowly. Not all of the iron became solid, so some liquid iron could be trapped inside,” Koper said. There is no process to directly access the core, so Koper and his team took into account data collected from 20 seismometers which were set up to measure earthquake waves and also monitor for nuclear weapons testing. The team also focused on waves which were triggered by earthquakes of magnitude 5.7 or above, and are big enough to send vibrations across the inner core, as the seismometer read a faint echo. "This signal that comes back from the inner core is really tiny. The size is about on the order of a nanometer. What we're doing is looking for a needle in a haystack. So these baby echoes and reflections are very hard to see,” Koper said. Composition of Earth's core 'inhomogeneous' The key finding, which was reported in the journal Nature on July 5, was that the composition of the core was "inhomogeneous," or varied. In other words, the earth's inner core did not smoothly solidify and is made up of a patchwork of different textures. WATCH | Gravitas: Earth's axis is shifting "For the first time we confirmed that this kind of inhomogeneity is everywhere inside the inner core," said Guanning Pang, a postdoctoral researcher at Cornell University, who participated in the research as a doctoral student at the University of Utah in the statement. “Seismic waves scatter more the deeper they penetrate the core,” said Koper, indicating an increase in the amount of variability closer to the centre of the Earth. “This could be related to the changing rate of solidification of the core over time,” he added. You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here. WATCH WION LIVE HERE

Earth's 'not so-solid' core filled with swirls of liquid iron, says study

Think your life is hell? All the life's misery burning you to the core and you craving for escape from all the agony? Think about a planet that literally has to bear rain of blazing hot liquid iron.

WASP-76b is the appropriately named planet that has to suffer such a fate. It's a gas giant. It was discovered in 2016. It is 640 lightyears away from us.

The planet is tidally locked. That means one side of the planet always faces its sun and the&nbsp;other side experiences perpetual night.

Also Read | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/science/nasa-posts-video-of-moon-parade-with-saturn-in-background-419171">NASA posts video of 'moon parade' with Saturn in background</a>

The temperature on the dark side is upwards of 1000 degrees Celsius while that on day side goes beyond 2000 degrees Celsius. For comparison, consider Venus, the hottest planet in the solar system. The surface temperature on Venus is 471 degrees Celsius. Way lower that what this gas giant has to bear.

Super high temperatures means that iron vapourises on the day side of WASP-76b and falls as hellish rain on the night side.

Also Read | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/science/what-is-the-significance-of-change-5-less-than-2-billion-years-old-lunar-samples-419140">What is the significance of Chang'e-5 less than 2 billion years old lunar samples?</a>

Now, as if this was not enough, scientists have found ionised calcium in the atmosphere of the planet. This means that WASP-76b's atmosphere may be more intense than we previously thought. The scientists say that upper layers of the atmosphere of this planet may be hotter than expected.

The study has been published in peer-reviewed journal The Astrophysical Journal Letters.

Think your life is hell? All the life's misery burning you to the core and you craving for escape from all the agony? Think about a planet that literally has to bear rain of blazing hot liquid iron.

Think your life is hell? All the life's misery burning you to the core and you craving for escape from all the agony? Think about a planet that literally has to bear rain of blazing hot liquid iron. WASP-76b is the appropriately named planet that has to suffer such a fate. It's a gas giant. It was discovered in 2016. It is 640 lightyears away from us. The planet is tidally locked. That means one side of the planet always faces its sun and the other side experiences perpetual night. Also Read | NASA posts video of 'moon parade' with Saturn in background The temperature on the dark side is upwards of 1000 degrees Celsius while that on day side goes beyond 2000 degrees Celsius. For comparison, consider Venus, the hottest planet in the solar system. The surface temperature on Venus is 471 degrees Celsius. Way lower that what this gas giant has to bear. Super high temperatures means that iron vapourises on the day side of WASP-76b and falls as hellish rain on the night side. Also Read | What is the significance of Chang'e-5 less than 2 billion years old lunar samples? Now, as if this was not enough, scientists have found ionised calcium in the atmosphere of the planet. This means that WASP-76b's atmosphere may be more intense than we previously thought. The scientists say that upper layers of the atmosphere of this planet may be hotter than expected. The study has been published in peer-reviewed journal The Astrophysical Journal Letters.

Hot, liquid iron rains on this planet and temperature can hit 2k mark

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