An illustration of the hot Jupiter exoplanet Wasp-121 b, which is raining iron and has winds that exceed expectations (Image credit: Robert Lee (created with Canva))
WASP-121 b is the name for an “extreme” exoplanet – it's so hot it rains liquid iron droplets. Now astronomers have found that the planet, about 900 light years from Earth, is also buffeted by unexpectedly strong winds.
This is the first time that astronomers have been able to study the atmosphere of a planet outside our solar system in such depth and detail.
The winds on WASP-121 b, discovered by a team of astronomers using the Very Large Telescope (VLT) in the Atacama Desert in northern Chile, transport elements such as iron and titanium across the planet, creating complex meteorological conditions.
“The atmosphere of this planet functions in a way that challenges our understanding of meteorology – not just on Earth, but on all planets,” said team leader and researcher at the Côte d’Azur Observatory Julia Victoria Seidel. “It’s like a scene from science fiction.”
Extreme World
Many of WASP-121 b's strange characteristics are due to the fact that it is a super-hot Jupiter, a gas giant with a mass about 1.2 times that of its solar sibling. WASP-121 b orbits so close to its star that a year on it lasts only 30 Earth hours.
This proximity also implies that WASP-121 b is “tidally locked,” meaning one side always faces its star (its hot day side), while the other (its night side) is cooler, constantly pointing out into space.
Iron and other metals evaporate on the hot day side and are carried by the wind to the night side of the planet, where they condense and fall as rains of liquid metal.
Atmospheric layers of the hot Jupiter exoplanet WASP-121 b.
By analyzing WASP-121 b's atmosphere and creating a 3D map of its atmosphere, the researchers identified different types of winds in different layers of the planet; they also observed a jet stream that spans half the planet.
As this jet stream accelerates, it appears to be actively stirring WASP-121 b's atmosphere high in the sky, crossing the boundary between the planet's night and day sides and heading toward the hotter side.
“What we found
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