Astronomers have detected supersonic winds on a massive gas planet over 500 light-years away from Earth. According to a study published Tuesday in Astronomy & Astrophysics, researchers have been monitoring the planet’s weather since 2016 and revealed that its jetstream winds are the fastest ever recorded circling a planet.
“This is an entirely new phenomenon,” said Lisa Nortmann, lead author of the study and a scientist at the University of Göttingen in Germany. The team utilized the CRIRES+ instrument on the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope to map the planet’s weather. This instrument, which combines a spectrograph and adaptive optics, allowed the team to capture detailed data on the planet, known as WASP-127b.
Slightly larger than Jupiter but with a much lower mass, WASP-127b has winds moving nearly six times faster than its rotational speed. For comparison, Neptune holds the record for the fastest wind in our solar system, clocking in at just 0.5 kilometers per second.
By tracking the movement of molecules in WASP-127b’s atmosphere, researchers uncovered a surprisingly intricate weather system. They observed a double peak in their data, indicating that one side of the atmosphere was rushing towards Earth while the other moved away, suggesting a powerful jetstream circling the planet’s equator.
The study suggests these intense winds are part of a complex weather system, similar to those found on Earth and other planets in our solar system. David Cont, a co-author and scientist at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, stated, “Researching the dynamics of such exoplanets helps us better understand planet formation and even the origins of our solar system by shedding light on processes like heat distribution and chemical interactions.”
Out of the many exoplanets discovered, only a few dozen have been directly imaged, according to NASA. Future research aims to determine whether young exoplanets like WASP-127b formed in their current locations or migrated over time, potentially revealing how they interact with their cosmic surroundings.
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