Feb 10, 2021
Molten iron rain falls through the skies of scorching-hot exoplanet
WASP-76b is a hot Jupiter exoplanet discovered during 2013 that can be found in the constellation Pisces. It orbits a F-type star (WASP-76) and has a size 0.92 that of Jupiter's mass. In March 2020, it was speculated the temperature on the planet could reach 2,400 °C on the hot side, hot enough to vaporize neutral iron. If the night side of WASP-76b had temperatures down to at least 1,400 °C, the iron may condense then rain down as hot liquid iron on its surface.
The atmosphere of WASP-76b is cloudy and mostly grey, with a significant amount of thermal incandescence.
