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Popular science media Space reports: 900 light-years from Earth, astronomers have for the first time studied in detail the atmosphere of the exoplanet WASP-121 b — one of the most extreme known planets, where iron rain falls on the night side, and recently discovered super-strong winds create a unique weather system.
Using the Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile, scientists have discovered a complex system of atmospheric currents. The most powerful of these is a jet stream that spans half the planet, carrying hot metals from the dayside to the nightside. At lower atmospheric levels, the gases move in the opposite direction, forming an unprecedented weather system.
WASP-121 b is a class of ultra-hot Jupiters, a gas giant with a mass 20% greater than Jupiter. The planet is so close to its star that it completes a full rotation in just 30 hours. This causes it to be synchronously locked: one side of it is constantly facing the star and heated to extreme temperatures, while the other side remains relatively cool.
Using the ESPRESSO spectrograph, scientists were able to simultaneously analyze three layers of the planet's atmosphere. They tracked the movement of iron, sodium, and hydrogen, and for the first time detected the presence of titanium, which had previously been undetected because it was likely hidden in the deeper atmospheric layers.
The study of WASP-121 b is of great importance for understanding the formation of weather systems on other planets under extreme conditions. The wind flows detected on it are so powerful that even the strongest hurricanes in the solar system seem insignificant in comparison.
This discovery confirms the importance of ground-based observations of exoplanets as a significant complement to space-based research.
Popular science media Space reports: 900 light-years from Earth, astronomers have for the first time studied in detail the atmosphere of the exoplanet WASP-121 b — one of the most extreme known planets, where iron rain falls on the night side, and recently discovered super-strong winds create a unique weather system.
Using the Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile, scientists have discovered a complex system of atmospheric currents. The most powerful of these is a jet stream that spans half the planet, carrying hot metals from the dayside to the nightside. At lower atmospheric levels, the gases move in the opposite direction, forming an unprecedented weather system.
WASP-121 b is a class of ultra-hot Jupiters, a gas giant with a mass 20% greater than Jupiter. The planet is so close to its star that it completes a full rotation in just 30 hours. This causes it to be synchronously locked: one side of it is constantly facing the star and heated to extreme temperatures, while the other side remains relatively cool.
Using the ESPRESSO spectrograph, scientists were able to simultaneously analyze three layers of the planet's atmosphere. They tracked the movement of iron, sodium, and hydrogen, and for the first time detected the presence of titanium, which had previously been undetected because it was likely hidden in the deeper atmospheric layers.
The study of WASP-121 b is of great importance for understanding the formation of weather systems on other planets under extreme conditions. The wind flows detected on it are so powerful that even the strongest hurricanes in the solar system seem insignificant in comparison.
This discovery confirms the importance of ground-based observations of exoplanets as a significant complement to space-based research.
