"Swedish" element found on the warmest planet measured so far

2023-05-01T19:13:17.857Z

Highlights: The element terbium was discovered by the Swedish chemist Carl Gustaf Mosander in 1843 in the Ytterby mine. KELT-9 b orbits its distant star about 670 light-years from Earth and has an average temperature of 4,000 degrees. The researchers behind the study have also succeeded in developing a new measurement method that opens up new opportunities to obtain more detailed knowledge about the atmospheres of other exoplanets."The new technology helps us get closer to the answer if a planet could be habitable," says Nicholas Borsato.

On the exoplanet KELT-9 b, the heavy element terbium has been discovered. It is a rare metal that has never before been found in the atmosphere of an exoplanet. "I was happiest in the world when the discovery was made," says Nicholas Borsato, astronomer at Lund University.