Bizarre super-puffy exoplanet hosts rare 'thermometer molecule'

illustration of an orange jupiter-like planet with a bright yellow-white star in the distance

Astronomers have discovered a rare temperature-sensitive molecule that is usually associated with stars in the atmosphere of an exoplanet for the first time. 

The "thermometer molecule" chromium hydride is abundant in a narrow range of temperatures between 1,700 degrees Fahrenheit to 3,140 degrees Fahrenheit (926 to 1,730 degrees Celsius). It was discovered in the atmosphere of the "hot Jupiter" exoplanet WASP-17b, which orbits an F-type star located around 1,250 light-years from Earth.