The planet absorbs 99% of sunlight
The "hot Jupiter" planet WASP-104b is so dark that it absorbs almost all the sunlight that reaches it.
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WASP-104b is one of the darkest planets ever discovered. Illustration:NASA. |
WASP-104b may be the darkest planet ever discovered. The hot Jupiter is shrouded in a haze that absorbs 97 to 99 percent of the light that reaches its surface. A team of researchers from Keele University in Newcastle, England, discovered WASP-104b in a study published in the journal arXiv on April 15, according toNewsweek.
“Of all the dark planets I could find in the studies, this one is in the top five,” said researcher Teo Mocnik. “I think it’s in the top three.”
WASP-104b and two other extremely dark planets, TrES-2b and HAT-P-7b, reflect similarly little light, so it’s hard to say which one is the darkest. The differences in reflected light are so small that researchers can’t measure them clearly, according to New Scientist.
WASP-104b has a mass similar to Jupiter and orbits close to its star, making it a "hot Jupiter." Most hot Jupiters are dark, reflecting only about 40% of the light that reaches their surfaces. However, WASP-104b is an exception.
The planet is so close to its star that it takes just 1.75 days to complete one orbit. This proximity is a key factor in WASP-104b’s dramatic darkness, allowing radiation from its host star to penetrate the planet’s clouds, releasing potassium and sodium that absorb starlight.
The team first noticed WASP-104b in 2014 as part of the Wide-Angle Planet Search, and the Kepler Space Telescope later revealed its ability to absorb light. Astronomers also observed WASP-104b indirectly as it passed in front of its host star multiple times, partially blocking the light. These transits revealed important information about WASP-104b, including how much light it absorbs.
