距地球800光年、有黄色天空的“怪异”系外行星

Researchers have found the “weird” exoplanet WASP-79b, nearly 800 light-years from Earth, does not have a blue sky as our planet does. Instead, its skies are yellow.

研究人员发现，距离地球近800光年的“怪异”系外行星WASP-79b，并不像我们的地球那样拥有蓝天。相反，它的天空是黄色的。

According to a statement from NASA, WASP-79b orbits its host star once every 3.7 Earth days and is not in the habitable zone, the proximity of which a planet is to a star where it could support liquid water.

根据美国国家航空航天局(NASA)的一份声明，WASP-79b每3.7个地球日绕其母恒星运行一周，不属于宜居带。宜居带是指一颗恒星周围的一定距离范围，在这一范围内水可以以液态形式存在。

The exoplanet, known as a “hot Jupiter,” also does not have any evidence of Rayleigh scattering, which is what causes Earth’s skies to appear blue by “scattering the shorter (bluer) wavelengths of sunlight,” the agency noted. That’s left experts puzzled.

该机构指出，这颗被称为“炽热木星”的系外行星也没有任何瑞利散射的证据，瑞利散射是导致地球天空呈现蓝色的原因，因为它“散射了更短(更蓝)的太阳光”，这让专家们感到困惑。

“This is a strong indication of an unknown atmospheric process that we’re just not accounting for in our physical models,” said researcher Kristin Showalter Sotzen of the Johns Hopkins University in a statement. “I’ve shown the WASP-79b spectrum to a number of colleagues and their consensus is ‘that’s weird.'”

约翰霍普金斯大学的研究人员Kristin Showalter Sotzen在一份声明中说:“这是一个强有力的证据，表明存在一个我们在物理模型中没有考虑到的未知的大气过程。”“我向一些同事展示了WASP-79b的光谱，他们一致认为‘这很奇怪’。”

In addition to having a yellow sky, WASP-79b is exceptionally hot, with an average temperature of approximately 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit, making it one of the largest exoplanets ever observed.

除了拥有黄色的天空，WASP-79b还异常炎热，平均温度约3000华氏度，使它成为有史以来最大的太阳系外行星之一。

“WASP-79b is twice the mass of Jupiter and is so hot it has an extended atmosphere, which is ideal for studying starlight that is filtered through and grazes the atmosphere on its way toward Earth,” NASA added.

美国航天局还说：“WASP-79b的质量是木星的两倍，它非常炎热，有一个扩展的大气层，这是研究恒星光线的理想地点，恒星光线通过大气层，掠过大气层，最终到达地球。”

The exoplanet is 780 light-years from Earth in the constellation Eridanus. A light-year, which measures distance in space, equals 6 trillion miles.

这颗系外行星距离地球780光年，位于Eridanus星座。光年的测量空间距离的单位，一光年相当于6万亿英里。

WASP-79b may also have “scattered clouds and iron lifted to high altitudes could precipitate as rain,” the agency explained.

该机构解释说，WASP-79b也可能有“散落的云层，高海拔地区的铁可能会随着降雨而沉淀”。

Sotzen added that the researchers are not really sure what’s causing the phenomena, as it’s the first time they’ve seen this.

索岑补充说，由于这是他们第一次看到这种现象，研究人员还不确定是什么导致了这种现象。

The findings were published in the Astronomical Journal.

这些发现发表在《天文杂志》上。