1
00:00:00,304 --> 00:00:03,190
(playful music)

2
00:00:03,190 --> 00:00:05,670
- So think of all the stars
that you see in the night sky,

3
00:00:05,670 --> 00:00:09,480
and imagine planets like our
own orbiting around them.

4
00:00:09,480 --> 00:00:11,010
Those are exoplanets.

5
00:00:11,010 --> 00:00:14,560
An exoplanet is a planet
that orbits another star

6
00:00:14,560 --> 00:00:15,660
other than the sun.

7
00:00:15,660 --> 00:00:17,420
- It's important to study exoplanets

8
00:00:17,420 --> 00:00:19,460
because exoplanets actually teach us a lot

9
00:00:19,460 --> 00:00:21,010
about planets in general,

10
00:00:21,010 --> 00:00:24,220
how they form, how they evolve,
where they've come from.

11
00:00:24,220 --> 00:00:28,330
And so examining the extremes
of exoplanet environments

12
00:00:28,330 --> 00:00:30,576
can tell us a lot about our own Earth.

13
00:00:30,576 --> 00:00:33,326
(ethereal music)

14
00:00:35,400 --> 00:00:37,890
We can learn so much about exoplanets

15
00:00:37,890 --> 00:00:39,270
from just their clouds.

16
00:00:39,270 --> 00:00:42,600
Exoplanet clouds are quite
simply clouds in an exoplanet.

17
00:00:42,600 --> 00:00:43,940
- [Hannah] The same as our clouds,

18
00:00:43,940 --> 00:00:48,064
liquid or solid droplets
suspended in an atmosphere.

19
00:00:48,064 --> 00:00:51,647
(ethereal music continues)

20
00:00:55,720 --> 00:00:59,780
Under those conditions, the
clouds of water couldn't exist.

21
00:00:59,780 --> 00:01:03,720
Instead, these clouds are made
of what you're standing on.

22
00:01:03,720 --> 00:01:04,880
They're made of rock.

23
00:01:04,880 --> 00:01:09,880
Melt that under high temperatures,
and you get molten rock,

24
00:01:11,080 --> 00:01:16,080
liquid glass, molten iron,
rubies and sapphires,

25
00:01:16,310 --> 00:01:18,170
that we have here on Earth.

26
00:01:18,170 --> 00:01:21,220
How can you not love exoplanet clouds

27
00:01:21,220 --> 00:01:23,616
when they're made of gems and jewels?

28
00:01:23,616 --> 00:01:26,283
(playful music)

29
00:01:29,210 --> 00:01:30,710
- In the case of exoplanets,

30
00:01:30,710 --> 00:01:32,910
the conditions might
be a lot more extreme.

31
00:01:32,910 --> 00:01:36,120
There might be more extreme
temperatures, extreme pressures,

32
00:01:36,120 --> 00:01:39,030
extreme rotation rate, extreme winds.

33
00:01:39,030 --> 00:01:41,800
- Here on Earth, the
fastest winds are recorded

34
00:01:41,800 --> 00:01:45,980
in hurricanes at about 250 miles per hour.

35
00:01:45,980 --> 00:01:48,060
Exoplanet winds have been measured

36
00:01:48,060 --> 00:01:52,170
to over 5,000 miles per hour.

37
00:01:52,170 --> 00:01:55,330
These winds are carrying those clouds.

38
00:01:55,330 --> 00:02:00,330
Molten glass, molten iron
being blown around the planets.

39
00:02:00,490 --> 00:02:03,980
You'd be swept up in the storm
and carried around the planet

40
00:02:03,980 --> 00:02:05,480
out of control.

41
00:02:05,480 --> 00:02:08,103
A truly horrible place to go.

42
00:02:08,103 --> 00:02:10,853
(ethereal music)

43
00:02:13,020 --> 00:02:16,120
The James Webb Space Telescope
is going to revolutionize

44
00:02:16,120 --> 00:02:20,110
the way that we can view
exoplanet atmospheres.

45
00:02:20,110 --> 00:02:22,310
It is an infrared telescope.

46
00:02:22,310 --> 00:02:24,410
That's looking at the colors just beyond

47
00:02:24,410 --> 00:02:26,510
what our eyes can see in the red.

48
00:02:26,510 --> 00:02:28,870
- [Tiffany] It will have a
broader wavelength coverage

49
00:02:28,870 --> 00:02:31,150
and spectroscopic sensitivity.

50
00:02:31,150 --> 00:02:33,950
And so we'll actually be
able to detect the chemistry

51
00:02:33,950 --> 00:02:36,160
from the clouds themselves.

52
00:02:36,160 --> 00:02:38,490
- [Hannah] We can start
to truly understand

53
00:02:38,490 --> 00:02:41,710
and detect these clouds

54
00:02:41,710 --> 00:02:43,630
and tell you a little bit more

55
00:02:43,630 --> 00:02:47,080
about the gems and jewels
of exoplanet atmospheres.

56
00:02:47,080 --> 00:02:49,270
- If the past has taught us anything,

57
00:02:49,270 --> 00:02:51,200
it's to expect the unexpected.

58
00:02:51,200 --> 00:02:56,200
- And I am expecting and
excited to be surprised

59
00:02:56,420 --> 00:02:58,660
by what we're going to discover.

60
00:02:58,660 --> 00:03:01,077
(music ends)