NASA has mapped the atmosphere of a distant world for the first time, revealing a bizarre weather system that challenges our current understanding of planetary atmospheres. WASP-121b, also known as Tylos, is a massive gas planet 900 light years away from Earth, with temperatures soaring to 2500°C, hot enough to melt iron.
Astronomers used the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope to study Tylos’s atmosphere and found three distinct layers of gas moving in different directions. This structure is unlike anything seen before, with winds driven by heat from the star instead of internal temperature differences. The planet’s winds travel away from the warm side, defying theory.
The jet stream on Tylos is the most powerful ever recorded, blowing at 70,000 kilometers per hour across half the planet – double the speed of previous records. Researchers are uncertain what drives this speed, but speculate it may be due to the planet’s strong magnetic field or ultraviolet radiation from its star. The discovery has left scientists stunned, with one researcher calling it “science fiction-y patterns and behaviors.”
Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2468994-astronomers-uncover-the-topsy-turvy-atmosphere-of-a-distant-planet