Atomic iron and titanium in the atmosphere of the exoplanet KELT-9b.

ABSTRACT: To constrain the formation history of an exoplanet, we need to know its chemical composition^1-3. With an equilibrium temperature of about 4,050 kelvin⁴, the exoplanet KELT-9b (also known as HD 195689b) is an archetype of the class of ultrahot Jupiters that straddle the transition between stars and gas-giant exoplanets and are therefore useful for studying atmospheric chemistry. At these high temperatures, iron and several other transition metals are not sequestered in molecules or cloud particles and exist solely in their atomic forms⁵. However, despite being the most abundant transition metal in nature, iron has not hitherto been detected directly in an exoplanet because it is highly refractory. The high temperatures of KELT-9b imply that its atmosphere is

SUBMITTER: Hoeijmakers HJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6322651 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature