Titanium oxide in the atmosphere of a 'hot Jupiter' exoplanet

DLR German Aerospace Center
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Titanium oxide in the atmosphere of a 'hot Jupiter' exoplanet


Since the first observation of an extrasolar planet, or exoplanet, almost 4000 planets have been identified orbiting other stars in the Milky Way. With these new discoveries, scientists are now increasingly investigating their atmospheres, the composition and structure of gas hull. Determining the substances and elements that make up these atmospheres is particularly difficult: until now, only a good handful of light elements such as hydrogen, oxygen, carbon as well as sodium and potassium have been detected. Now, with the detection of titanium oxide, German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum fuer Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR) researcher Elyar Sedaghati has, for the first time, been able to identify a heavier molecule in the atmosphere of a so-called 'hot Jupiter', and publish this result in the prestigious scientific journal Nature.


Full article with images:
http://www.dlr.de/dlr/en/desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-10081/151_read-24045/year-all/#/gallery/28249


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