Kepler-13Ab tagged posts

Seething hot planet Kepler-13Ab that circles very close to its host star, Kepler-13A. In the background is the star’s binary companion, Kepler-13B, and the third member of the multiple-star system is the orange dwarf star Kepler-13C. Astronomers have detected a precipitation process, called a “cold trap,” on an exoplanet. Without titanium oxide to absorb incoming starlight on the daytime side, the atmospheric temperature grows colder with increasing altitude. Normally, titanium oxide in the atmospheres of hot Jupiters absorbs light and reradiates it as heat, making the atmosphere grow warmer at higher altitudes. The Kepler-13 system is 1,730 light-years from Earth. Credit: NASA, ESA, and G. Bacon (STScI)