There is an unusual exoplanet in Vela, which is the shortest exoplanet in period of revolution (less than 19 hours). Scientists named it WASP- 19b.

This is a gas giant planet with the same mass as Jupiter, but a circle larger than Jupiter. What's more, because it is too close to its parent star, it will inevitably receive special care-the atmospheric temperature is estimated to be as high as 2000 degrees Celsius. So WASP- 19b is a hot Jupiter worse than hell.

Recently, a newly released study pointed out that there is a peculiar component-titanium oxide in the atmosphere of WASP- 19b. Elyar Sedaghati, an astronomer from the European Southern Observatory (ESO), led a team to make an unprecedented detailed analysis of the atmosphere of WASP- 19b with a very large telescope, thus obtaining this discovery.

The transit of WASP- 19b can be well observed on the earth. When it passes in front of the parent star, the light emitted by the parent star will pass through its atmosphere and then spread to the earth. Therefore, researchers can infer the components contained in the planet's atmosphere through spectral analysis.

With the help of a very large telescope, Elyar Sedaghati and his team found that the atmosphere of WASP- 19b contains a small amount of titanium oxide, water and a small amount of sodium, and it also covers the global smog.

Of course, it is not easy to get this discovery. Elyar Sedaghati spent two years studying this. In addition to obtaining high-quality observation data, it is also necessary to design algorithms for a series of complex analysis.

According to reports, titanium oxide is quite rare on the earth and usually exists in the atmosphere of low-temperature stars. In hot Jupiter like WASP- 19b, titanium oxide may play an important role. If the content is enough, it will have an inversion effect on the earth's atmosphere, similar to the effect of ozone on the earth's atmosphere.

This discovery will help scientists to further improve the atmospheric model of exoplanets.

At present, this discovery has been published in the journal Nature, and the paper is entitled "Detection of titanium oxide in the atmosphere of a hot Jupiter".