ElI5: how do they know what other planets are made off, how can the be so sure? Jupiter could be made of a completely unknown gas?
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Through spectroscopy! When the sunlight passes through a planets atmosphere certain wavelengths are absorbed by different compounds present in the atmosphere and will leave corresponding gaps that show up on the spectrometer, aptly called special gaps. And each element and compound uniquely absorb different wavelengths of light. Although it can occasionally be a bit ambiguous, you get get very precise data, with regards to a planets atmospheric composition using this method! I’d look into it it’s rather fascinating!
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