Composed of substances of an unusual hot Jupiter discovered aluminium oxide

An international team of researchers headed by astrophysicist Carolina von Essen (Carolina von Essen) used the OSIRIS spectrograph mounted on the telescope, the Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC) to study the chemical composition of the planet, the equilibrium temperature which is approximately 3200 degrees Celsius.

The planetary system WASP-33, which is the object of this study, lies at a distance of about 380 light years from Earth. The parent star of this planet is the first Known star of the shield Delta type, around which the planet of the "hot Jupiter"class turns. The frequency of pulsations of this star coincides with the period of the main transit of the planet in front of the star, so scientists had the task to correctly characterize the physical properties of the exoplanet, without resorting to measurements of the parameters of the variability of the star.

The planet WASP-33b is of great interest in itself: its temperature is about 3200 degrees Celsius, making it one of the hottest hot Jupiters known to astronomers. The orbital period of the planet is 29 hours, and its orbit is almost perpendicular to the Equatorial plane of the star. In addition, the direction of its movement does not coincide with the direction of rotation of the star, the researchers note.

In this new study the authors have studied the spectral method, the composition of the atmosphere of a planet WASP-33b. "Current models of exoplanet atmospheres are indicative of the presence in the atmosphere of hot Jupiters sverkhrazvetvlennykh a number of oxides, such as oxides of vanadium, aluminum and titanium, - explained Karolina von Essen. – However, so far only a very limited number of attempts have been made to confirm these models with observations. Our study is the first example of how the presence of aluminum oxide predicted by modern models of exoplanet atmospheres is confirmed by observations."