Webb Telescope Finds Pink Planet GJ504b: Northwestern Astronomers Crack 13-Year Mystery In Just Two Hours Of Observation
According to CBS News, astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope have discovered that the famous “Pink Planet” GJ504b is wrapped in clouds made of vaporized salt, a feature never directly confirmed before.
GJ504b, discovered in 2013, orbits a sun-like star 57 light-years from Earth and is technically a “planetary-mass companion,” roughly 25 times Jupiter’s mass and 2.5 to 4 billion years old.
At 550 degrees Fahrenheit, it is one of the coldest such objects ever directly imaged, which made it nearly impossible to study from Earth despite repeated attempts. Webb solved it in just two hours.
Researchers led by Aneesh Baburaj found a mix of water vapor, methane, carbon dioxide and ammonia that only made physical sense once salt clouds were added to their models.
“We were very surprised,” Baburaj said, since theorists predicted salt clouds at these temperatures 15 years ago but nobody had confirmed them. This matters because it pushes astronomers closer to understanding the coldest, faintest worlds beyond our solar system.
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