Stunning Clouds Of Rubies And Sapphires Detected On Gas Giant Planet

The scientists have detected clouds of rubies and sapphire on a gas giant planet referred to as HAT-P-7b. This super-sized planet is 16 times larger than the Earth and about 1,000 lightyears away from Earth.

The discovery was led by Dr. David Armstrong of Warwick Astrophysics Group and other colleagues. Dr. Armstrong found that the HAT-P-7b is influenced by massive scale changes in the strong winds that move across the giant gas planet. This would likely lead to catastrophic storms.

This gas giant planet is inhabitable due to its sadistic weather systems and severe temperatures. The one side of the gas giant planet always faces the star because it is tidally locked. Meanwhile, the other side is much hotter than the other with an average temperature of 2860 K, according to Science Daily.

Dr. Armstrong commented on the discovery. He said that by using the NASA Kepler satellite, they could study the light reflected from HAT-P-7b's atmosphere. They found that its atmosphere was changing over time and the planet is tidally locked. They also expect clouds to shape on the cold night side of the planet. On the other hand, they would evaporate fast on the hot dayside.

First time that weather systems have been observed on an exoplanet. On HAT-P-7b it's raining rubies https://t.co/61ucalEGsG

— Caspar Henderson (@casparhenderson) December 12, 2016

The results indicate that strong winds circle the planet and transporting clouds from the night side to the day side, according to Dr. Armstrong. He further said that the winds change speed dramatically that leads to large cloud formations building up then vanishing away. He then said that this is the first detection of weather on a gas giant planet outside the solar system.

In the discovery, the team found that the clouds are made up of corundum, which is the mineral that forms rubies and sapphires. On the other hand, more detail is required to identify the cloud's exact make-up, according to New Scientist.