Bizarre alien planet has layered atmosphere of vaporized metals

Scientists have spotted the first evidence of an alien world with an atmosphere that’s layered like Earth’s — although perhaps a little too toasty for human tastes.

The planet, dubbed WASP-189b, isn’t a new discovery. Scientists already knew that the world, which lies about 322 light-years from Earth, is a gas giant that orbits its star 20 times closer than Earth does the sun, making it a sweltering world. And in a new study of the exoplanet, scientists found the first hint that such a body sports a complex atmosphere like our own.