New observations collected with the Very Large Telescope in Chile have discovered that the planet WASP-76b likely experiences weather that is cloudy with a chance of iron rain.

This hot world is located 640 Light years away in the constellation Pisces and orbits a 6400 Kelvin star that is just a bit hotter than our Sun. What makes this system extraordinary is the location of the planet. It is so close to its star that it has become tidally locked to its star, so that the same side always faces the star. That starward side is estimated to be 2400 degrees Celsius, which is hot enough to vaporize metals like iron and form metal clouds that stream to the cooler side of the world. The temperature drops to 1400C on the night side of WASP 76b, and at this temperature the metal vapor condenses into droplets and rains. This implies puddles become sheets of metal and everything is coated in metal. This is both awesome and horrifying, and we feel safe saying no larger forms of life exist on this world, although no one can rule out bacteria, because bacteria like to adapt to the challenges geology gives them.