Astronomers have made a groundbreaking discovery on an exoplanet called WASP-121b, which is unlike anything seen before. Located 900 light-years away in deep space, the planet has a football-shaped atmosphere that rains gems and exhibits never-before-seen activity.
Researchers used four telescopes to observe the planet’s swirling atmosphere and found unique winds carrying different chemical elements in each layer. The team created a 3D structure map of the exoplanet’s atmosphere, revealing iron winds blowing away from the star overhead, sodium jet streams moving faster than the planet rotates, and hydrogen winds at the top.
“This climate has never been seen before on any planet,” said Julia Victoria Seidel, lead researcher. “It’s truly mind-blowing that we’re able to study details like the chemical makeup and weather patterns of a planet at such a vast distance.”
The discovery challenges our understanding of how weather works on planets, including Earth. With the upcoming Extremely Large Telescope (ELT), researchers plan to explore smaller, rocky worlds, potentially similar to Earth.
WASP-121b is a “hot Jupiter” exoplanet with a tidal lock to its star, resulting in one side being constantly seared and the other dark and cooler. The unique atmosphere and extreme weather patterns make it an exciting target for future research.
Source: https://mashable.com/article/planet-extreme-weather-first-3d-view-of-atmosphere-wasp-121b