Named after the Greek word barys for "heavy," barium is a relatively dense and reactive alkaline earth metal. It is only found naturally when combined with other elements, and compounds containing ...

Here’s how it works. Astronomers have discovered the heavy element barium in the atmospheres of two blisteringly hot gas giant planets outside the solar system. Detecting barium around the ...

The barium discovery has perplexed astronomers, who found the element by accident. Tomás Azevedo Silva, a PhD student at the University of Porto and the Instituto de Astrofísica e Ciências do ...