Incredible discovery: Supersonian winds on the exoplanet WASP-127B!

An international research team has discovered pioneering atmospheric phenomena on the exoplanet WASP-127B, which exceed planets to date on the wind speed. As Merkur 33,000 km/h measured, which is the fastest windows determined so far in our universe. For comparison: The fastest winds on earth reach three -digit values and on Neptune, the planet with the fastest winds in our solar system, a maximum of 1,800 km/h were registered.

WASP-127B is about 520 light years away from the earth and is a so-called "puffy planet", which is slightly larger than Jupiter, but has only 7% of its mass. The observations were carried out with the very large Telescope (VLT) of the European South Sarstery (ESO) in Chile and flow into a study published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics. The scientists were also able to demonstrate water vapor and carbon monoxide molecules in the atmosphere of the planet.

impressive atmospheric dynamics

Special attention was paid to the newly discovered overshafing winds that move around the planet's equator. Data show that part of the atmosphere moves towards the earth, while the other part moves in the opposite direction. These extreme wind currents are almost six times faster than the rotation speed of the planet. In addition, it was found that the poles of WASP-127B are significantly cooler than the rest of the planet and that there are temperature differences between the morning and evening side, with differences of up to 175 Kelvin.

Further information was made by study finds is. The discoveries pave the way for future studies by the ESO's Extremely Large Telescope, which should enable more detailed insights into the weather patterns and the atmospheric composition of exoplanets. The findings about the dynamic properties and atmospheric differences expand the understanding of the Hot Jupiter Exoplanet category.