NASA data to decipher clouds of sand on distant planets

Brown dwarfs - celestial objects that fall between stars and planets - are shown in this illustration with a range of temperatures, from hottest (left) to coldest (right). The two in the middle represent those in the right temperature range for clouds made of silicates to form. (Illustration by NASA/JPL-Caltech) - A new study led by researchers at Western University provides critical information on sand clouds observed in distant planets and helps affirm a larger theory of how planetary atmospheres work. Most clouds on Earth are made of water, while the top of Jupiter's atmosphere is blanketed in yellow-hued clouds made of ammonia and ammonium hydrosulfide. On worlds far beyond Earth, scientists know of clouds composed of silicates, the family of rock-forming minerals that includes the most common component of sand. But researchers haven't been able to observe the conditions under which these clouds of small dust grains form, until now. Published in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society , the research reveals the temperature range at which silicate clouds can form and are visible by telescopes at the top of a distant planet's atmosphere.