Salty Clouds Found Surrounding Mysterious Pink Planet

WHO:

NBC News - Astrophysicist Aneesh Baburaj is leading the research on GJ 504b.

CBS News - The research team is from Northwestern University.

WHAT:

NBC News - Scientists discovered salty clouds surrounding the pink planet GJ 504b.

CBS News - The atmosphere of GJ 504b contains clouds made of salt, an unexpected feature.

CBS News - GJ 504b is estimated to be 25 times the mass of Jupiter and between 2.5 billion and 4 billion years old.

CBS News - The temperature of GJ 504b is approximately 550 degrees Fahrenheit.

WHERE:

NBC News - GJ 504b is located 57 light years away from Earth.

CBS News - GJ 504b orbits a sun-like star.

WHEN:

CBS News - The findings were published in The Astronomical Journal on a Thursday.

WHY:

CBS News - The discovery of salt clouds was surprising because theorists did not expect to observe such clouds at the temperatures of GJ 504b.

HOW:

CBS News - Researchers used the James Webb Space Telescope to conduct observations of GJ 504b.

CBS News - It took researchers 2 hours to conduct a successful observation of GJ 504b with the Webb telescope.

CBS News - The James Webb Space Telescope captures infrared images and spectra to reveal chemical fingerprints of the atmosphere.

(UPDATED June 19, 2026 04:28 UTC)

Astrophysicist Aneesh Baburaj and his team from Northwestern University have made a groundbreaking discovery regarding the pink planet GJ 504b, which is located 57 light years away from Earth and is estimated to be 25 times the mass of Jupiter. They found that the atmosphere of GJ 504b contains salty clouds, an unexpected feature given the planet's scorching temperature of approximately 550 degrees Fahrenheit. This remarkable finding, published in The Astronomical Journal, was made possible through two hours of observations using the James Webb Space Telescope, which captured infrared images to reveal the chemical fingerprints of the planet's atmosphere.