{"data":{"id":1909,"lang":"en","title":"James Webb Space Telescope Solves Decade-Long Mystery of the 'Pink Planet' — Salt Clouds Found in Alien Atmosphere","summary":"JWST has solved the 13-year mystery of exoplanet GJ504b by detecting exotic salt clouds in its atmosphere — the first direct confirmation of such clouds on a cold planetary body.","category":"science","category_label":"Science","published_at":"2026-06-28T22:02:55Z","updated_at":"2026-06-28T22:02:55Z","url":"https://techtools.cz/tools/news/article/1909-james-webb-space-telescope-solves-decade-long-mystery-of-the-pink-planet-salt","api_url":"https://techtools.cz/news-api/v1/articles/1909?lang=en","markdown_url":"https://techtools.cz/news-api/v1/articles/1909.md?lang=en","image_url":"https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/qFmaKRRqwHZ9GoZ7GzHNdH.png","word_count":205,"reading_time_minutes":2,"sources":[{"url":"https://www.space.com/astronomy/exoplanets/james-webb-space-telescope-finds-a-salty-surprise-on-famous-pink-planet","domain":"space.com"},{"url":"https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/06/260623014009.htm","domain":"sciencedaily.com"},{"url":"https://news.northwestern.edu/stories/2026/06/famous-pink-planet-harbors-a-salty-surprise","domain":"news.northwestern.edu"}],"translation":{"lang":"cs","id":1982,"title":"Teleskop Jamese Webba vyřešil desetiletou záhadu 'Růžové planety' — v cizí atmosféře odhalil solné mraky","url":"https://techtools.cz/tools/news/clanek/1982-teleskop-jamese-webba-vyresil-desetiletou-zahadu-ruzove-planety-v-cizi","api_url":"https://techtools.cz/news-api/v1/articles/1982?lang=cs"},"content":"The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has finally cracked the decade-long mystery of GJ504b, a peculiar exoplanet nicknamed the \"Pink Planet\" located 57 light-years from Earth. Scientists have detected exotic salt clouds in the world's atmosphere — a composition unlike anything observed in a planetary body before, with one researcher remarking: \"We realized it was not like anything we have analyzed before.\"\n\nGJ504b has puzzled astronomers since its discovery in 2013. With a mass roughly 25 times that of Jupiter, it teeters on the boundary between a giant planet and a brown dwarf. What makes it unusual is its remarkably cool temperature of around 290°C (550°F) — far colder than most gas giants captured through direct imaging, which typically exceed 500°C. Scientists had long struggled to explain its atmospheric readings with standard models.\n\nThe breakthrough came when researchers introduced salt clouds into their atmospheric simulations, producing a precise match with JWST's spectroscopic observations. The finding provides the strongest direct evidence yet that salt clouds can exist in the atmospheres of extremely cold substellar bodies — a phenomenon long theorized but never confirmed. The research, published on June 18, 2026, underscores JWST's growing power in revealing the unexpected chemical diversity of worlds beyond our solar system."}}