It is a planet astronomers say probably should not even exist.
Researchers said on Monday they have spotted a truly extreme planet beyond our solar system, a blazingly hot world a bit bigger than Neptune that orbits a sun-like star every 19 hours and appears to be wrapped in metallic clouds made of titanium and silicates that reflect most incoming light back into space.
“It’s a giant mirror in space,” said astronomer James Jenkins of Diego Portales University and the Center for Excellence in Astrophysics and Associated Technologies (CATA) in Chile, a co-author of the research published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics.
It reflects about 80% of incoming light, making it the universe’s most reflective object known. Venus, the brightest object in Earth’s night sky besides the moon, is our solar system’s most reflective object, enrobed in toxic sulfuric acid clouds. Venus reflects about 75% of incoming light. Earth reflects about 30%.
Read more: Reuters
