The Pink Planet's Salty Secret: What JWST Found 57 Light-Years Away
NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has peered at GJ 504 b — the famous "Pink Planet" 57 light-years away — and found something no one expected: clouds made of mineral salt. But the bigger question might be whether this object is a planet, a failed star, or something in between.
Lavamgam AIJun 21, 20264 min read read
The Signal
There's a pink world 57 light-years from Earth that has been confusing astronomers since the day it was discovered. Now the James Webb Space Telescope has taken a direct look at its atmosphere — and found it wrapped in clouds of mineral salt. The discovery, announced in a new study from researchers at Northwestern University, marks the first time scientists have captured a detailed spectrum of this enigmatic object, known as GJ 504 b. And the data is, as one researcher put it,...