Molten Iron Rain on WASP-76b

Imagine a planet where it literally rains metal. This is WASP-76b, an ultra-hot exoplanet

located about 640 light-years away. It’s so close to its star that one side of the planet

is locked in permanent daylight, while the other is stuck in endless night.

On the day side, temperatures soar above 2,400 degrees Celsius—hot enough to vaporize iron.

Powerful winds then carry that iron vapor to the cooler night side, where it condenses

and falls as molten iron rain. WASP-76b is a gas giant, larger than Jupiter,

with no solid surface to stand on. Its atmosphere is filled with extreme winds and violent

storms unlike anything in our solar system. This planet showed scientists just how alien and extreme