{"id":792909,"date":"2025-01-22T16:59:05","date_gmt":"2025-01-22T21:59:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/?p=792909"},"modified":"2025-01-22T16:59:05","modified_gmt":"2025-01-22T21:59:05","slug":"astronomers-discover-extreme-supersonic-winds-on-a-puffy-exoplanet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/?p=792909","title":{"rendered":"Astronomers discover extreme supersonic winds on a \u2018puffy\u2019 exoplanet"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p><strong>Astronomers have detected the fastest atmospheric jet stream ever recorded, with winds reaching 33 000 km\/h (20 505 mph), on the gas giant exoplanet WASP-127b, located over 500 light-years from Earth.<\/strong><\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"perfmatters-lazy-youtube\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/S84jjw__zlg\" data-id=\"S84jjw__zlg\" data-query=\"feature=oembed\" onclick=\"perfmattersLazyLoadYouTube(this);\">\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><noscript><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"An exoplanet with extreme supersonic winds | ESO News\" width=\"1110\" height=\"624\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/S84jjw__zlg?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/noscript>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Animation shows supersonic jet winds pummeling the equator of the giant exoplanet WASP-127b, located about 520 light-years from Earth. With speeds up to 9 km per second (almost 33 000 km\/h), it is the fastest jetstream of its kind ever measured in the Universe.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>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.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Researchers reporting in Astronomy &amp; Astrophysics have discovered powerful winds traveling at speeds of 33 000 km\/h (20 505 mph) on the gas giant exoplanet WASP-127b, representing the fastest atmospheric jetstream ever recorded on any planet. The findings, published in Astronomy &amp; Astrophysics, offer valuable insights into the weather patterns and atmospheric dynamics of planets located far beyond our Solar System.<\/p>\n<p>Researchers analyzed the atmosphere of WASP-127b during a transit of its host star using the CRIRES+ instrument on the European Southern Observatory\u2019s Very Large Telescope (ESO\u2019s VLT) in Chile.<\/p>\n<p>Discovered in 2016, this exoplanet is situated over 500 light-years (4.73 \u00d7 10\u00b9\u2075 km) from Earth. While slightly larger than Jupiter, WASP-127b has only a fraction of Jupiter\u2019s mass, giving it a low density frequently described as \u201cpuffy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The analysis detected water vapor and carbon monoxide molecules within the atmosphere of WASP-127b. A surprising double-peaked signal revealed that one portion of the atmosphere is moving toward Earth, while another is moving away at comparable high speeds.<\/p>\n<p>Researchers attribute this phenomenon to a supersonic jetstream encircling the planet\u2019s equator, likely caused by steep temperature gradients and rotation dynamics.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"perfmatters-lazy-youtube\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/lcY1vxbKjO0\" data-id=\"lcY1vxbKjO0\" data-query=\"feature=oembed\" onclick=\"perfmattersLazyLoadYouTube(this);\">\n<div><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-perfmatters-preload=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/lcY1vxbKjO0\/hqdefault.jpg\" alt=\"YouTube video\" width=\"480\" height=\"360\" data-pin-nopin=\"true\" nopin=\"nopin\"\/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><noscript><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Animation of the supersonic jetstream wind on gas giant WASP-127b\" width=\"1110\" height=\"624\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/lcY1vxbKjO0?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/noscript>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>WASP-127b\u2019s equatorial jetstream is estimated to move at 32 400 km\/h  (20 132 mph), nearly six times faster than the planet\u2019s rotation speed. By comparison, the fastest wind measured in the Solar System occurred on Neptune, where winds reached 1 800 km\/h (1 118 mph). This discovery highlights the extreme atmospheric conditions that can occur on exoplanets and underscores the unique features of WASP-127b.<\/p>\n<p>Beyond the equatorial jet stream, researchers observed significant temperature variations across latitudes. WASP-127b\u2019s polar regions appear cooler than its equatorial regions.<\/p>\n<p>Additionally, researchers detected slight temperature differences between the morning and evening terminators\u2014the zones transitioning between the day and night sides of the planet. These findings indicate a complex interaction between heat redistribution and atmospheric circulation.<\/p>\n<p>References:<\/p>\n<p><sup>1<\/sup> CRIRES<sup>+<\/sup>\u00a0transmission spectroscopy of WASP-127 b \u2013 Detection of the resolved signatures of a supersonic equatorial jet and cool poles in a hot planet \u2013 Astronomy &amp; Astrophysics \u2013 January 21, 2025 \u2013  \u2013 OPEN ACCESS<\/p>\n<p><sup>2 <\/sup>Extreme supersonic winds measured on planet outside our Solar System \u2013 ESO \u2013 January 21, 2025<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-theme-palette-6-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-9d017777aff9fea787787e5d0242c154\"><em>Featured image credit: ESO\/L. Cal\u00e7ada<\/em><\/p>\n<p><!-- MOLONGUI AUTHORSHIP PLUGIN 4.9.7 --><br \/>\n<!-- https:\/\/www.molongui.com\/wordpress-plugin-post-authors --><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/watchers.news\/2025\/01\/22\/astronomers-discover-extreme-supersonic-winds-on-a-puffy-exoplanet\/?rand=772151\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Astronomers have detected the fastest atmospheric jet stream ever recorded, with winds reaching 33 000 km\/h (20 505 mph), on the gas giant exoplanet WASP-127b, located over 500 light-years from&hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":792910,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-792909","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-genaero"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/792909","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=792909"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/792909\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/792910"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=792909"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=792909"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=792909"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}