NASA’s Hubble spacecraft discovers evidence of a WEATHER system on nearby ‘Hot Jupiter’ exoplanet – despite blowing surface temperatures of 2,192 ° F
- Researchers examined images of WASP-31b taken by the Hubble Telescope
- WASP-31b is an extremely hot ‘inflated planet’ that is 1,305 light-years from Earth
- It is tightly closed, with one side to the star and the other side to space
- Temperatures can reach as high as 2192F in the zone between day and night
- This is where researchers say that the chemical chromium hydride can transform between liquid and gas and produce strong winds from day to night.
NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope spotted potential signs of a weather system on a dazzlingly hot Jupiter-sized exoplanet, with a surface temperature of 2,192F.
Researchers from SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research and the University of Groningen examined images of WASP-31b taken by the famous telescope.
WASP-31b is tightly closed, with one side always watching its host in the sun – in the ‘twilight zone’ between the two zones, the temperature reaches 2192 degrees F.
The experts found evidence of chromium hydride in this zone – at temperatures and pressure levels that can cause it to transform between liquid and gas – which forms a weather system because it rains on the night side and as a gas on the day side.
According to the team, this is an important discovery, as a weather system is an important feature that astronomers should look for when finding a planet suitable for life – and finding one in such an inhospitable world can be the process. facilitated for ‘friendlier planets’.
NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope spotted evidence of a weather system on a ‘hot Jupiter’ exoplanet – suggesting the world may have living conditions
In the ‘twilight zone’ – the area between the star and space side – the temperature can reach as high as 2192 degrees Fahrenheit (2 100 C).
WASP-31b is an ‘inflated world’ about 1.5 times the size of Jupiter, but with about half its mass – it orbits its host dwarf every 3.4 days.
‘Hot Jupiters, including WASP-31b, always have the same side as their host,’ says Michiel Min, co-author and SRON Exoplanets program leader.
‘We therefore expect a day side with chromium hydride in gaseous form and a night side with liquid chromium hydride.
‘According to theoretical models, the large temperature difference creates strong winds. We want to confirm this with observations. ‘
Exoplanets are currently too far away to reach without sin, but telescopes and earth equipment can provide a glimpse into their atmosphere.
They can use fingerprints in the atmosphere – including signs of certain chemicals and temperature at which they occur – to determine things like weather systems.
With these fingerprints, astronomers can deduce what substances are in the atmosphere of an exoplanet – and one day use them to find evidence of strange lives.
According to Dutch researchers, there may be signs that there is evidence of a weather system on a planet.
Although the ‘inflated’ WASP-31b is probably too hot to evolve, evidence of an atmospheric weather system may teach astronomers more about how possible weather systems can arise in strange and unusual worlds.
WASP-31b is an ‘intense planet’ that is 1,305 light-years from Earth – the planet is tightly closed, with one side always to the star and the other to space
Researchers from SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research and the University of Groningen examined images of WASP-31b taken by the famous telescope
Finding chromium hydride at the boundary between liquid and gas is reminiscent of clouds and rain – at least in the case of water on earth.
First author Marrick Braam and his colleagues found evidence in Hubble data for chromium (CrH) in the atmosphere of the exoplanet WASP-31b.
This is the first time it has been found on a hot Jupiter planet and with the right pressure and temperature to function as a weather system.
“We should add that we only found chromium hydride using the Hubble Space Telescope,” Braam said, adding that they had not seen it in ground-based telescopes, including the Very Large Telescope at the Southern Observatory in Chile.
They will not be able to confirm whether the chrome is really a weather system on the planet until Hubble’s successor – the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is launched later this year.
The Dutch team hopes to use it to investigate WASP-31b and other hot Jupiter planets to confirm if and how a weather system would work.
Co-author Floris van der Tak says: “With JWST we are looking for chromium hydride on ten planets with different temperatures, to better understand how the weather systems on the planets depend on the temperature.”
The findings were published in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics.
Scientists study the atmosphere of distant exoplanets using huge space satellites such as Hubble
Distant stars and their orbiting planets often have conditions different from what we see in our atmosphere.
To understand this new world, and what it consists of, scientists must be able to detect what their atmosphere consists of.
They often do this by using a telescope similar to Nasa’s Hubble Telescope.
These enormous satellites scan the sky and attach to exoplanets that Nasa says could be of interest.
Here the sensors on board perform different forms of analysis.
One of the most important and useful is called absorption spectroscopy.
This form of analysis measures the light coming from the atmosphere of a planet.
Each gas absorbs a slightly different wavelength of light, and when it does, a black line appears in a full spectrum.
These lines correspond to a very specific molecule that indicates that it occurs on the planet.
These are often called Fraunhofer lines after the German astronomer and physicist who first discovered them in 1814.
By combining all the different wavelengths of light, scientists can determine all the chemicals that make up a planet’s atmosphere.
The key is that what is missing gives the clues to find out what is present.
It is extremely important that this is done by space telescopes, as the atmosphere of the earth would then interfere.
The uptake by chemicals into our atmosphere will skew the sample, so it is important to study the light before it could reach the earth.
It is often used to search for exotic atmospheres for helium, sodium and even oxygen.
This diagram shows how light moving through a star and through the atmosphere of an exoplanet produces Fraunhofer lines that indicate the presence of key compounds such as sodium or helium.