The list of known exoplanets numbers in the thousands. The most prolific method of finding these worlds orbiting around other stars is to watch the dimming of the star's light as the planet passes in front of it, known as a transit.
I study the atmospheres of transiting exoplanets to better understand how their climate is affected by their environments. I'm most interested in hot gas giants: planets similar in size to Jupiter but orbiting their stars in just a few days, meaning they are baked under the intense radiation. These 'hot Jupiters' are tidally locked with a very hot permanent dayside facing the star, and a cooler nightside facing space. This dichotomy in temperature drives supersonic winds and changes the atmosphere's chemistry.
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Particles and corresponding antiparticles are very much alike, except they have opposite electrical charges. For instance, the antiparticle of the electron - known as the positron - has the same tiny mass, but while electrons carry a negative electrical charge, positrons are positively charged.
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The Big Bang produced a Universe filled almost exclusively with hydrogen and helium; all other elements - what astronomers call metals - were produced by stars, supernovae and everything that happens later. So if you can pick out a pristine star with no metals polluting it from among the billions in the Milky Way, then you are likely to have a star dating from our Galaxy's earliest days.
Inside The Sky At Night - Two years ago, exoplanet scientist Hannah Wakeford received some of the first data from the JWST
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