Using data from NASA\u2019s Hubble Space Telescope, an international team of astronomers has detected atmospheric variability on an exoplanet called WASP-121 b. The team analyzed observations taken with Hubble over several years and used computer simulations to demonstrate that the observed variations in the atmosphere could be explained by weather patterns.<\/p>\n
WASP-121 b, also known as Tylos, is a Jupiter-sized exoplanet located about 880 light-years from Earth. Taking only 30 hours to complete one orbit around its host star, the planet is so close to the star that it is almost torn apart by gravitational forces. Additionally, the exoplanet is tidally locked to its star, meaning that the same hemisphere always faces the star and gets extremely hot from the constant exposure to the star\u2019s ultraviolet light.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a hugely exciting result as we move forward for observing weather patterns on exoplanets,\u201d said one of the team\u2019s principal investigators, Quentin Changeat of the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Maryland. \u201cStudying exoplanets\u2019 weather is vital to understanding the complexity of exoplanet atmospheres on other worlds, especially in the search for exoplanets with habitable conditions.\u201d<\/p>\n
To study this extreme world, the scientists had to construct a data set from multiple observations taken over three years. They then analyzed that data and used computer simulations to reconstruct the conditions in the exoplanet\u2019s atmosphere that could have caused the observed atmospheric variability.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n