Alien Planet With Metallic Clouds Resembles ‘A Giant Mirror in Space’

Alien Planet With Metallic Clouds Resembles ‘A Giant Mirror in Space’
An artist's impression of the exoplanet LTT9779b orbiting its host star, located 264 light years from Earth. Ricardo Ramírez Reyes/Universidad de Chile/Handout via Reuters
Reuters
Updated:

WASHINGTON—It is a planet astronomers say probably should not even exist.

Researchers said on Monday they have spotted a truly extreme planet beyond our solar system, a blazingly hot world a bit bigger than Neptune that orbits a sun-like star every 19 hours and appears to be wrapped in metallic clouds made of titanium and silicates that reflect most incoming light back into space.