{"id":9864,"date":"2024-01-04T12:05:49","date_gmt":"2024-01-04T16:05:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/zobi.alcowep.com\/bourtagshdrevxnls658739\/nasas-hubble-observes-exoplanet-atmosphere-changing-over-3-years\/"},"modified":"2024-01-04T12:05:49","modified_gmt":"2024-01-04T16:05:49","slug":"nasas-hubble-observes-exoplanet-atmosphere-changing-over-3-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zobi.alcowep.com\/bourtagshdrevxnls658739\/nasas-hubble-observes-exoplanet-atmosphere-changing-over-3-years\/","title":{"rendered":"NASA\u2019s Hubble Observes Exoplanet Atmosphere Changing Over 3 Years"},"content":{"rendered":"

NASA\u2019s Hubble Observes Exoplanet Atmosphere Changing Over 3 Years<\/h2>\n

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4 min read<\/p>\n

NASA\u2019s Hubble Observes Exoplanet Atmosphere Changing Over 3 Years<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

By combining several years of observations from NASA\u2019s Hubble Space Telescope<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n

The planet, called WASP-121 b, is not habitable. But this result is an important early step in studying weather patterns on distant worlds, and perhaps eventually finding potentially habitable exoplanets<\/a> with stable, long-term climates.<\/p>\n

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\"A<\/figure>
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This is an artist\u2019s concept of the exoplanet WASP-121 b, also known as Tylos. The exoplanet\u2019s appearance is based on Hubble simulation data of the object. Using Hubble observations, another team of scientists had previously reported the detection of heavy metals such as magnesium and iron escaping from the upper atmosphere of the ultra-hot Jupiter exoplanet; marking it as the first of such detection. The exoplanet is orbiting dangerously close to its host star, roughly 2.6% of the distance of Earth to the Sun, placing it on the verge of being ripped apart by the star\u2019s tidal forces. The powerful gravitational forces have altered the planet\u2019s shape.<\/p>\n

An international team of astronomers assembled and reprocessed Hubble observations of the exoplanet in the years 2016, 2018 and 2019. This provided them with a unique data-set that allowed them to not only analyze the atmosphere of WASP-121 b, but also to compare the state of the exoplanet\u2019s atmosphere across several years. They found clear evidence that the observations of WASP-121 b were varying in time. The team then used sophisticated modelling techniques to demonstrate that these temporal variations could be explained by weather patterns in the exoplanet\u2019s atmosphere.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

NASA, ESA, Quentin Changeat (ESA\/STScI), Mahdi Zamani (ESA\/Hubble)<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

For the past few decades, detailed telescopic and spacecraft observations of neighboring planets in our solar system show that their turbulent atmospheres are not static but constantly changing, just like weather on Earth. This variability should also apply to planets around other stars, too. But it takes lots of detailed observing and computational modelling to actually measure such changes.<\/p>\n

To make the discovery, an international team of astronomers assembled and reprocessed Hubble observations of WASP-121 b taken in 2016, 2018, and 2019.<\/p>\n

They found that the planet has a dynamic atmosphere, changing over time. The team used sophisticated modelling techniques to demonstrate that these dramatic temporal variations could be explained by weather patterns in the exoplanet\u2019s atmosphere.<\/p>\n

The team found that WASP-121 b\u2019s atmosphere shows notable differences between observations. Most dramatically, there could be massive weather fronts, storms, and massive cyclones that are repeatedly created and destroyed due to the large temperature difference between the star-facing side and dark side of the exoplanet. They also detected an apparent offset between the exoplanet\u2019s hottest region and the point on the planet closest to the star, as well as variability in the chemical composition of the exoplanet\u2019s atmosphere (as measured via spectroscopy).<\/p>\n

The team reached these conclusions by using computational models to help explain observed changes in the exoplanet\u2019s atmosphere. \u201cThe remarkable details of our exoplanet atmosphere simulations allows us to accurately model the weather on ultra-hot planets like WASP-121 b,\u201d explained Jack Skinner, a postdoctoral fellow at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, California, and co-leader of this study. \u201cHere we make a significant step forward by combining observational constraints with atmosphere simulations to understand the time-varying weather on these planets.\u201d<\/p>\n

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