Hubble uncovers a super-heated heavy metal exoplanet

NASA's Hubble Space Telescope recently uncovered an exoplanet that contains heavy metals ejected from a hot Jupiter. This is the first time that scientists have found that heavy metals - elements heavier than hydrogen and helium - have escaped from a hot Jupiter. This finding help researchers understand how planets lose their primordial atmospheres.

The Hubble Space Telescope recently uncovered an exoplanet that contains heavy metals that escaped from a hot Jupiter. [File Photo: SWNS via VCG]

The heavy metal planet is from a solar system called WASP-121b. The system resides about 900 light-years from Earth.

The observations by Hubble show that heavy metal elements, such as magnesium and iron, are escaping from a hot Jupiter, which a large, gaseous exoplanet very close to its star. "Normally, hot Jupiter-sized planets are still cool enough inside to condense heavier elements such as magnesium and iron into clouds," accordingto an article by NASA.

But WASP-121b orbits so close to its star that its upper atmosphere reaches a blazing 2,530 degrees Celsius.

Ultraviolet light from the host star heats the upper atmosphere, helping the magnesium and iron gas to escape.