Exoplanet Smashes Record for Heaviest Element Detected in Atmosphere

Astronomers have detected the heaviest single element, samarium, in the atmosphere of an ultra-hot Jupiter exoplanet called MASCARA-4. The planet also has rubidium, which is the first time this element has been found in an exoplanet's atmosphere. The team used a spectrograph to measure starlight as the planet passed in front of its host star and hopes for follow-up observations to confirm the presence of these new chemical elements and refine their quantities in the atmosphere.