Science!

Absolutely hilarious:

Statistical Evidence for Temperature Inversions in Ultra-Hot Jupiters 

Netherlands Research School for Astronomy / August 6, 2020 / Phys.org

The thermal structure of hot gas giant exoplanet atmospheres is likely to be inverted for the hottest planets, a class of planets known as ultra-hot Jupiters. This is the conclusion from astrophysicists based at the University of Amsterdam (UvA) in collaboration with an international team from the United States and the United Kingdom.

They were searching for statistical signatures of elusive inverted atmospheres with data from the late Spitzer Space Telescope. They found that planets above 1700 Kelvin (around 1400℃) displayed different emission properties than their cooler counterparts, indicating temperature inversions in the hottest planets and supporting previous theoretical predictions. This research has been published online in Astronomy & Astrophysics.

And now … the illustration they sent to accompany the article:

Credit: Netherlands Research School for Astronomy (NOVA)

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