Alien planet with metallic clouds resembles 'a giant mirror in space'

Mon, July 10, 2023 at 10:15 AM PDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - 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%.

The planet, named LTT9779b, and its star are located in our Milky Way galaxy about 264 light years from Earth in the direction of the constellation Sculptor. A light year is the distance light travels in a year, 5.9 trillion miles (9.5 trillion km).

The planet's diameter is about 4.7 times greater than Earth, and it orbits very close to its star - closer than our solar system's innermost planet Mercury's distance to the sun and 60 times closer than Earth's orbit. With blistering solar radiation from its star, its surface temperature is about 3,270 degrees Fahrenheit (1,800 degrees Celsius), hotter than molten lava.

With its star so close, it is a wonder it has any atmosphere, according to the researchers. An atmosphere with water-based clouds, as on Earth, would have been blown away by solar radiation long ago. But they believe its clouds are metallic, a combination of titanium and silicate - the stuff that makes up most of the rocks in Earth's crust.

"We even think that the clouds could condense into droplets, and have titanium rain falling in parts of the atmosphere," Jenkins said.

The researchers studied the planet using the European Space Agency's CHEOPS orbiting telescope.

"No other planet like this has been discovered to date," said astronomer and study lead author Sergio Hoyer of the Marseille Astrophysics Laboratory in France.

Possessing an atmosphere while orbiting so close to its star makes it "a planet that shouldn't exist," according to astronomer and study co-author Vivien Parmentier of the Côte d'Azur Observatory in France.

"The super-reflective cloud cover likely helped stop the planet from warming up too much and being stripped of its atmosphere," Parmentier said. "This is quite unique as all other planets at this temperature that are big enough to keep their atmosphere are too hot to form clouds and are thus as dark as charcoal."

It also appears to be tidally locked to its star like the moon is to Earth, with a permanent day side facing the star and a permanent night side facing away.

All previously known planets that orbit their stars in less than one Earth day were either "hot Jupiters," gas giants similar in composition to our solar system's largest planet but much hotter due to solar radiation - or rocky planets smaller than Earth and lacking an atmosphere.

The researchers are pondering whether LTT9779b, classified as an "ultra-hot Neptune," perhaps began as a gas giant only to lose most of its atmosphere, or whether it started out at its current size.

More than 5,000 planets beyond our solar system - called exoplanets - have been discovered, many with traits vastly different than our solar system's eight planets. With increasingly capable instruments coming on line - the James Webb Space Telescope became operational last year and the Extremely Large Telescope is under construction in Chile - more discoveries await.

"The diversity of exoplanets is stunning," Parmentier said, "and we have just scratched the surface."

https://news.yahoo.com/alien-planet-metallic-clouds-resembles-171519890.html

Pro surfer Mikala Jones dies after freak water accident that severed his artery

July 10, 2023 3:31pm Updated

Hawaiian surfing star Mikala Jones bled to death after severing an artery in his groin while riding a wave in Indonesia this weekend.

Jones, a 44-year-old married father of three, was involved in a freak surfing accident in the Mentawai Islands Sunday.

Jones had been staying at the Awera Resort with his family, when around 9:15 a.m. he likely impaled his left groin on his surfboard fin, suffering a 4-inch-long gash, according to the surfing website Surfline, citing official reports.

While the exact circumstances of Jones’ death remained unclear, those close to Jones wrote on social media that he died after slashing his femoral artery, leading to a massive blood loss.

“Details are a little sketchy but it sounds like he was hit by his surfboard, cut a main artery and that’s all I know,” Brian Bielmann, a photographer and friend of Jones, wrote on Facebook.

Jones was best known in Hawaii for tube-surfing, which entails riding inside the barrel of a breaking wave.

The Hawaii native had been documenting his adventures in stunning GoPro videos, prompting Surfline to hail him as “one of the 21st century’s most photogenic surfers.”

Jones’ daughter Isabella Jones confirmed her father’s tragic death on Instagram.

“I’m not sure how to put this in words, but my dad got into a bad surfing accident and didn’t make it,” she wrote in a post Sunday. “Im [sic] happy he was doing what he loved the most.

The distraught daughter also shared touching photos of herself as a child surfing with her dad, writing that she was “in disbelief” and that Jones’ untimely death “doesn’t feel real.”

“I love you so much dad and i wish i could give you one last hug,” she added. “I wish i could tell you again how much i love you and thank you for being the best dad.”

The news of Jones’ fatal surfing accident was met with an outpouring of tributes from members of the worldwide surfing community.

Three-time surfing World Champion Mick Fanning shared a photo of himself and Jones together on Instagram, writing that he felt “shattered.”

“Mikala you were one of a kind. Funny, mellow, an explorer, a pioneer but most of all loving husband and father,” Fanning wrote. “Going to miss your sense of humor and classic one liners. Love how you always kept it real but were a true ambassador of aloha.”

T&C Surf designs, a surfboard-making company in Hawaii, also paid tribute to Jones on Facebook, reminiscing about his “quiet demeanor and easy smile.”

“His passion for deep barrels and his unquenchable wanderlust led him to explore points beyond to get even deeper,” the post read. “Mikala shared the experience with his amazing POV images letting many of us share the feeling even though we lacked his mastery of tube riding.”

https://nypost.com/2023/07/10/surfer-mikala-jones-dies-after-suffering-severed-artery/

Gaetz co-sponsoring measure to prevent Biden from sending cluster bombs to Ukraine

07/10/23 5:51 PM ET

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) said Monday he will co-sponsor a measure to block President Biden from sending cluster munitions to Ukraine, joining a small group of Democrats on an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act.

“I will be the Republican co-sponsor on the NDAA amendment introduced by [Rep. Sara Jacobs (D-Calif.)] to stop the transfer of cluster bombs. These cluster bombs will not end the war in Ukraine and will not build a more stable country,” Gaetz wrote in a tweet, which included a video clip from his podcast. “Children will be left without limbs and without parents because of this decision if we do not work together in a bipartisan fashion to stop it.”

“Cluster bombs are features of the world’s bloodiest and most inhumane wars, and some of the longest. It’s hardly the corner stone of a path to peace,” he said in the video.

Biden’s announcement that he would send Ukraine cluster munition has been among the most controversial decisions he’s made yet in the 500-day war. The bombs are banned in several countries because of the risk they pose to civilians.

Biden has defended the decision, saying he believes Ukraine needs them, but he acknowledged the difficulty in reaching his conclusion.

Members of Biden’s own party have been split on the move, and Jacobs’s amendment to the NDAA is one of the latest efforts to push back against the decision. Gaetz’s move to co-sponsor the amendment could give additional weight to it, although it’s unlikely that the amendment will result in any change in policy.

The chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Rep. Mike McCaul (R-Texas), indicated his support for Biden’s move in an interview over the weekend and said the weapons could possibly be a “game changer” in the war.

“They want these as self-defense to use against Russians in their own country of Ukraine. I don’t see anything wrong with that because, quite honestly … as you look at the counteroffensive, it’s been slowed tremendously because this administration has been so slow to get the weapons in,” McCaul said Sunday.

The Gaetz-backed amendment is only one of hundreds to the NDAA, which is expected to be taken up and debated on the floor of the House this month.

https://thehill.com/homenews/house/4089665-gaetz-co-sponsoring-measure-to-prevent-biden-from-sending-cluster-bombs-to-ukraine/

>>19158109

I thought he was Neal McDonough