James Webb Space Telescope Discovers Minute Quartz Crystals Within Atmosphere of Hot Gas Giant
Researchers have made a groundbreaking discovery using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, detecting evidence of quartz nanocrystals within the high-altitude clouds of WASP-17 b, a scorching exoplanet located 1,300 light-years away from Earth. This remarkable detection, made possible by Webb’s Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI), signifies the first-ever spotting of silica (SiO2) particles in an exoplanet’s atmosphere.…