Astronomers Find a "Thermometer Molecule" that Only Appears When a Planet is Between 1,200 and 2,000 Kelvin

Astronomers use spectroscopy to reveal the chemicals present in a planet's atmosphere. One intriguing chemical is chromium hydride (CrH), which can only appear when the upper atmosphere of a world is between 1,200 and 2,000 Kelvin. It was previously only seen in cool stars and brown dwarfs, but now astronomers have found it in the atmosphere of the exoplanet WASP-31b. Astronomers think there could be other temperature-sensitive molecules that could act as natural thermometers to help independently measure the temperature of an exoplanet.

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https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2023/08/thermometer-molecule-confirmed-exoplanet-wasp-31b