Tuesday, December 3

Hubble Telescope Observes Exoplanet Called WASP-121 B

Over thee last three years, NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has been watching a planet known as WASP-121 B. Located about 880 light years away, the exoplanet is a non-habitable exoplanet the size of Jupiter.

On the exoplanet, astronomers have found evidence of massive cyclones and storms, as well as other dynamic weather activity. These storms and cyclones repeatedly created due to the large temperature difference between the star -facing side and the dark side of the exoplanet. They also detected an apparent offset between WASP-121 B’s hottest region, and the point closest to the star.

WASP-12 B is very close to its parent star, making is orbital period only 1.27 days. This means the planet is tidally locked, so that the same hemisphere always faces the star. Daytime temperatures are around 3,4500 Fahrenheit on the planet.