A team of astronomers has discovered a planet that is so reflective, it is essentially a giant mirror. The planet, named LTT9779 b, reflects 80% of the light from its sun. This makes it the most reflective planet ever discovered, even more reflective than Venus.

LTT9779 b is about the size of Neptune and orbits its star every 19 hours. It is located about 260 light-years from Earth. The high reflectivity of the planet is due to its atmosphere, which is made up of metallic clouds. These clouds are composed of titanium and other metals that are very reflective.

The discovery of LTT9779 b is a bit of a mystery. It is not clear how such a planet could form. The high reflectivity of the atmosphere would have prevented the planet from accreting enough mass to form in the first place. However, the researchers theorize that the planet may have formed further away from its star and then migrated inward. As the planet migrated inward, it would have heated up, causing the metallic clouds to form.

The discovery of LTT9779 b is a reminder of the diversity of exoplanets that exist in our galaxy. This planet is a bizarre world that defies our expectations of what a planet should be. It is a testament to the power of modern telescopes that we are able to discover such amazing worlds.

The study that announced the discovery of LTT9779 b was published in the journal ‘Nature Astronomy’. The lead author of the study is David Lafrenière, an astronomer at the University of Montreal.

This discovery has implications for our understanding of how planets form and evolve. It also raises the question of whether there are other mirror planets out there in the Milky Way. Only time will tell what other surprises await us in the vastness of space.

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