Astronomers have struck terbium, a rare metal, in the atmosphere of an exoplanet — planets revolving around a star outside our solar system — 670 lightyears away from Earth.
This breakthrough was made through a new method of analysing exoplanets that allows scientists to collect information about the exoplanets and their atmosphere in a far better way than before.
The exoplanet named KELT-9 is the hottest ever known to humans. It is orbiting a star that is 670 light years away from the Earth. It has a temperature of 4,000 degrees Celsius.
Since it was discovered in 2016, the exoplanet KELT-9b has grabbed the attention of scientists worldwide. The study published in Astronomy & Astrophysics journal seeks to throw new light on its atmosphere.
The discovery of the rare metal asserts that its atmosphere has a particular mix of elements, contrary to our solar system.
The discovery also allows insight into how the exoplanets evolve over time.
Nicholas Borsato, a student pursuing a PhD in astrophysics at Swedish Lund University, said: "We have developed a new method that makes it possible to obtain more detailed information."
"Using this, we have discovered seven elements, including the rare substance terbium, which has never before been found in any exoplanet's atmosphere."
What is rare about terbium?
First discovered by a Swedish chemist Carl Gustaf Mosander in the Ytterby mine located in the Stockholm archipelago in 1843, terbium belongs to the lanthanoid group.
It is not found easily in nature. Its 99% of production is conducted in the Bayan Obo mining district situated in Inner Mongolia.
Borsato said: "Finding terbium in an exoplanet's atmosphere is very surprising."
Scientists discover exoplanets by measuring the brightness of stars. However, with the help of the latest advancements in measurement methods, researchers have developed a new technique to filter out dominant signals in the atmosphere of KELT-9 b.
The discovery of an exoplanet orbiting a neutron star in 1992 was considered an important breakthrough in astronomy.
After three years, it was confirmed that a sun-like star was an exoplanet.
Over the time of nearly 25 years, more than 5,000 exoplanets have been reported, showing how vast our universe is.
Some experts have maintained that the exoplanets may host life or at least host an atmosphere suitable for living. However, this area of study is still fascinating for scientists.
"The better we get to know these planets, the greater chance we have of finding Earth 2.0 in the future," Borsato said.
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