K2 light curve with WASP-104 phase bend. The red line is the best model of MSMS transit. Top shows the remains of the transit model.
Researchers from the University of Quila (UK) described one of the darkest planets ever observed. We are talking about WASP-104b - a gas giant of the “hot Jupiter” type, distant from its star by 4.3 million km and spending 1.75 days for one orbital overflight. It is considered a dark world, because the atmosphere absorbs 97% -99% of the visible light received from a star. In addition, the exoplanet is located in a gravitational block (one side is always turned towards the star).
It is believed that darkness is associated with a gravitational block. From the side of a yellow dwarf it will be incredibly hot to form ice and clouds, which usually makes the planet brighter. There is a suspicion that the world is endowed with an extremely dense atmosphere, represented by potassium and atomic sodium. Planets, like WASP-104b, are usually located not through direct observation through a telescope, but by the transit method — fixing the fall in the brightness level of a star when an object passes in front of it. The size of WASP-104b allows you to apply the method of radial velocity, where the star fluctuates slightly due to the gravity of the world.
WASP-104b does not act as the darkest planet, because TrES-2b is in the first place, reflecting only 0.1% of the light. But WASP-104b is among the top three.
