Chromium hydride, found in the temperature range of 1,200-2,000 degrees Kelvin, has been detected in the hot Jupiter WASP-31b's atmosphere. This discovery paves the way for the molecule to be used as a 'thermometer' for exoplanets. Chromium hydride (CrH), a molecule that’s relatively rare and par
Astronomers have confirmed the presence of chromium hydride in the atmosphere of the hot Jupiter WASP-31b using high-resolution spectral observations. This molecule, abundant only between 1,200-2,000 degrees Kelvin, has the potential to act as a “thermometer” for exoplanets.
Flagg, a research associate in astronomy at Cornell University’s College of Arts and Sciences , has used this and other metal hydrides to determine the temperature of cool stars and brown dwarfs.
“Chromium hydride molecules are very temperature sensitive,” Flagg said. “At hotter temperatures, you see just chromium alone. And at lower temperatures, it turns into other things. So there’s only a specific temperature range, about 1,200 to 2,200 Kelvin, where chromium hydride is seen in large abundances.”
Chromium is rare, even at the right temperature, so researchers need sensitive instruments and telescopes, Flagg said.
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