Scientists have discovered the first mirror planet outside the solar system - it has metallic clouds that reflect the light of a star

Scientists have managed to find a mirror planet. The European Space Agency (ESA) reports that the discovered object is able to reflect 80% of the light of its star.

Here's What We Know

The planet is called LTT9779b. It is located at a distance of 260 light years from us. NASA researchers discovered it in 2020 with the help of the TESS telescope. ESA specialists used the Characterising ExOPlanet Satellite (CHEOPS) telescope, thanks to which they learned that the planet forms metallic clouds and rains titanium.

LTT9779b has a diameter of about 50,000 kilometres, which is comparable to Neptune. A revolution around the star takes less than 20 hours. It is the first mirror planet to be discovered outside the solar system.

Despite the presence of metallic clouds that reflect 80 per cent of the star's light, temperatures on LTT9779b can reach 2,000 degrees Celsius. But now scientists are wondering how this is possible. It was previously thought that clouds could not form at that temperature.

Source: The Telegraph