Extreme Supersonic Winds Measured on Planet Outside our Solar System
Tornados, cyclones and hurricanes wreak havoc on Earth, but scientists have now detected planetary winds on an entirely different scale, far outside the Solar System. Ever since its discovery in 2016, astronomers have been investigating the weather on WASP-127b, a giant gas planet located over 500 light-years from Earth. The planet is slightly larger than […]
NASA’s Webb Maps Weather on Planet 280 Light-Years Away
By Space Telescope Science Insitute An international team of researchers has successfully used NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope to map the weather on the hot gas-giant exoplanet WASP-43 b. Precise brightness measurements over a broad spectrum of mid-infrared light, combined with 3D climate models and previous observations from other telescopes, suggest the presence of thick, […]
NASA’s Hubble Finds Water Vapor in Small Exoplanet’s Atmosphere
Astronomers using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope observed the smallest exoplanet where water vapor has been detected in the atmosphere. At only approximately twice Earth’s diameter, the planet GJ 9827d could be an example of potential planets with water-rich atmospheres elsewhere in our galaxy. “This would be the first time that we can directly show through […]
NASA Hubble Observes How an Exoplanet’s Atmosphere Changes (Video)
By combining several years of observations from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope along with conducting computer modelling, astronomers have found evidence for massive cyclones and other dynamic weather activity swirling on a hot, Jupiter-sized planet 880 light-years away. The planet, called WASP-121 b, is not habitable. But this result is an important early step in studying […]