Cornell University astronomers report that ice crystal alignments, known for creating atmospheric phenomena such as halos and sun dogs on Earth, might have counterparts on exoplanets. The researchers found that on the hot Jupiter exoplanet WASP 17b, winds reaching speeds of 10,000 miles per hour could align particles in clouds made of quartz and other crystalline minerals. This alignment would allow polarizing dust to interact with starlight in a way similar to how aligned ice crystals interact with sunlight in Earth’s atmosphere. Elijah Mullens, a doctoral student at Cornell, helped co-author the study explaining these findings. More details are available at Cornell’s official website.

Source: Cornell University

Source Type: College

Source Location: Ithaca

Ithaca, NY

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