Extremely wild planet hosts metal clouds and raining gems

Over a trillion exoplanets likely orbit distant stars in our humble galaxy. Astronomers suspect one, 855 light-years away, harbors metallic clouds and raining gems.

This peculiar world, WASP-121 b is known as a "hot Jupiter," because it's a gaseous giant that orbits close to its searing star. Crucially, the planet is tidally...