Latest news with #JuliaVictoriaSeidel
Yahoo
24-02-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
This exoplanet has weather never before seen in the universe
Scientists say they are rethinking how the weather works after creating a 3D map of an exoplanet 900 light-years away and discovering a world with jet streams fueling wild storms. WASP-121b, nicknamed Tylos, is a gas giant with a few things in common with Jupiter, but there are more differences than similarities between these two worlds. Researchers used all four telescopes at the European Southern Observatory (ESO) in Chile to study the climate and weather patterns on Tylos. According to the ESO, this is the first study in such detail of a world outside our solar system. "This planet's atmosphere behaves in ways that challenge our understanding of how weather works – not just on Earth, but on all planets. It feels like something out of science fiction," ESO researcher Julia Victoria Seidel said. Astronomers Discover Largest Superstructure In Cosmos Tylos rotates counterclockwise so that one side always faces its system's star. This causes one side of the planet to be scorching hot and always daytime. The opposite side is cool and always night. Because of its closeness to the star, a year on Tylos only lasts about 30 hours. Using the ESO's ESPRESSO instrument to combine the light of the four large telescope units into a single signal, the science team was able to detect signatures of multiple chemicals making up layers in Tylos' atmosphere. The team found that the atmosphere on Tylos has layers, each with a unique chemical makeup, including iron, sodium and hydrogen. The graphic below shows the layers: the deepest layer of the atmosphere contains iron, followed by a fast jet stream of sodium moving faster than the planet's rotation, which accelerates as it moves from the hot to the cool side. Lastly, the upper layer of the atmosphere contains hydrogen blasting out from the planet and overlapping with the sodium jet beneath. "What we found was surprising: a jet stream rotates material around the planet's equator, while a separate flow at lower levels of the atmosphere moves gas from the hot side to the cooler side. This kind of climate has never been seen before on any planet," Seidel said. How To Watch Fox Weather These observations showed jet streams spanning half the planet, churning storms high in the sky as they scream across the hot side of the planet. These storms would rival Jupiter's Great Red Spot, the largest storm in our solar system. "Even the strongest hurricanes in the solar system seem calm in comparison," Seidel said. Astronomers will soon be able to study weather on smaller Earth-sized worlds with ESO's Extremely Large Telescope (ELT), currently under construction in Chile's Atacama article source: This exoplanet has weather never before seen in the universe
Yahoo
19-02-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Astronomers reveal 3D structure of an alien planet's atmosphere
By Will Dunham WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Astronomers for the first time have deciphered the three-dimensional structure of the atmosphere of a planet beyond our solar system, revealing three layers like a wedding cake on a ferociously hot gas planet that orbits close to a star bigger and hotter than our sun. The researchers peered through the atmosphere of WASP-121b, a planet also called Tylos, by combining all four telescope units of the European Southern Observatory's Chile-based Very Large Telescope, discerning a stratification of layers with different chemical compositions and intense winds. See for yourself — The Yodel is the go-to source for daily news, entertainment and feel-good stories. By signing up, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy. Until now, researchers have been able to determine the atmospheric chemical composition for some planets outside our solar system - called exoplanets - but without mapping the vertical structure or how the chemical elements were distributed. WASP-121b is an "ultra-hot Jupiter," a class of large gas planets that orbit close to their host star, making them extremely hot. Its atmosphere is mainly composed of hydrogen and helium, like that of Jupiter, our solar system's largest planet. But WASP-121b's atmosphere is not like anything ever seen before. The researchers differentiated three layers by looking for the presence of specific elements. WASP-121b's bottom layer was characterized by the presence of iron - a metal in gaseous form because of the incredible heat of the atmosphere. Winds move gas from the planet's eternal hot side to its cooler side. The middle layer was characterized by the presence of sodium, with a jet stream blowing circularly around the planet at about 43,500 miles (70,000 km) per hour - stronger than any winds in our solar system. The upper layer was characterized based on its hydrogen, with some of this layer being lost into space. "This structure has never been observed before and defies current predictions as to how atmospheres should behave," said astronomer Julia Victoria Seidel of the European Southern Observatory and the Lagrange Laboratory at the Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur in France, lead author of the study published this week in the journal Nature. The researchers also detected titanium in gaseous form in WASP-121b's atmosphere. On Earth, neither iron nor titanium exist in the atmosphere because they are solid metal owing to our planet's lower temperatures, relative to WASP-121b. Earth does have a sodium layer in the upper atmosphere. "For me, the most exciting part of this study is that it operates at the very limits of what is possible with current telescopes and instruments," said study co-author Bibiana Prinoth, a doctoral student in astronomy at Lund University in Sweden. WASP-121b has roughly the same mass as Jupiter but twice the diameter, making it puffier. It is located about 900 light-years from Earth in the direction of the constellation Puppis. A light-year is the distance light travels in a year, 5.9 trillion miles (9.5 trillion km). WASP-121b is tidally locked, meaning that one side of it perpetually faces its star and the other side faces away, like the moon is to Earth. The side facing the star has a temperature around 4,900 degrees Fahrenheit (2,700 degrees Celsius/3,000 degrees Kelvin). The other side is at about 2,200 degrees Fahrenheit (1,250 degrees Celsius/1,500 degrees Kelvin). The planet orbits its star at about 2.5% of the distance of Earth to the sun. It is about a third closer to its star than our solar system's innermost planet Mercury is to the sun - so close that it completes an orbit in 1.3 days. Its host star, called WASP-121, is roughly 1-1/2 times the mass and diameter of the sun, and hotter. Being able to make out the structure of an exoplanet's atmosphere could be helpful as astronomers search for smaller rocky planets capable of harboring life. "In the future, we will likely be able to provide similar observations for smaller and cooler planets and thus more similar to Earth," Prinoth said, especially with the European Southern Observatory's Extremely Large Telescope due to be completed in Chile by the end of the decade as the world's largest optical telescope. "These detailed studies are necessary to provide context for our place in the universe," Seidel said. "Is Earth's climate unique? Can theories we derive from our one data point - Earth - actually explain the whole population of exoplanets?" "With our study we have shown that climates can behave vastly differently that predicted. There is much more diversity out there than what we have at home," Seidel added.
Yahoo
19-02-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Astronomers reveal 3D structure of an alien planet's atmosphere
By Will Dunham WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Astronomers for the first time have deciphered the three-dimensional structure of the atmosphere of a planet beyond our solar system, revealing three layers like a wedding cake on a ferociously hot gas planet that orbits close to a star bigger and hotter than our sun. The researchers peered through the atmosphere of WASP-121b, a planet also called Tylos, by combining all four telescope units of the European Southern Observatory's Chile-based Very Large Telescope, discerning a stratification of layers with different chemical compositions and intense winds. See for yourself — The Yodel is the go-to source for daily news, entertainment and feel-good stories. By signing up, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy. Until now, researchers have been able to determine the atmospheric chemical composition for some planets outside our solar system - called exoplanets - but without mapping the vertical structure or how the chemical elements were distributed. WASP-121b is an "ultra-hot Jupiter," a class of large gas planets that orbit close to their host star, making them extremely hot. Its atmosphere is mainly composed of hydrogen and helium, like that of Jupiter, our solar system's largest planet. But WASP-121b's atmosphere is not like anything ever seen before. The researchers differentiated three layers by looking for the presence of specific elements. WASP-121b's bottom layer was characterized by the presence of iron - a metal in gaseous form because of the incredible heat of the atmosphere. Winds move gas from the planet's eternal hot side to its cooler side. The middle layer was characterized by the presence of sodium, with a jet stream blowing circularly around the planet at about 43,500 miles (70,000 km) per hour - stronger than any winds in our solar system. The upper layer was characterized based on its hydrogen, with some of this layer being lost into space. "This structure has never been observed before and defies current predictions as to how atmospheres should behave," said astronomer Julia Victoria Seidel of the European Southern Observatory and the Lagrange Laboratory at the Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur in France, lead author of the study published this week in the journal Nature. The researchers also detected titanium in gaseous form in WASP-121b's atmosphere. On Earth, neither iron nor titanium exist in the atmosphere because they are solid metal owing to our planet's lower temperatures, relative to WASP-121b. Earth does have a sodium layer in the upper atmosphere. "For me, the most exciting part of this study is that it operates at the very limits of what is possible with current telescopes and instruments," said study co-author Bibiana Prinoth, a doctoral student in astronomy at Lund University in Sweden. WASP-121b has roughly the same mass as Jupiter but twice the diameter, making it puffier. It is located about 900 light-years from Earth in the direction of the constellation Puppis. A light-year is the distance light travels in a year, 5.9 trillion miles (9.5 trillion km). WASP-121b is tidally locked, meaning that one side of it perpetually faces its star and the other side faces away, like the moon is to Earth. The side facing the star has a temperature around 4,900 degrees Fahrenheit (2,700 degrees Celsius/3,000 degrees Kelvin). The other side is at about 2,200 degrees Fahrenheit (1,250 degrees Celsius/1,500 degrees Kelvin). The planet orbits its star at about 2.5% of the distance of Earth to the sun. It is about a third closer to its star than our solar system's innermost planet Mercury is to the sun - so close that it completes an orbit in 1.3 days. Its host star, called WASP-121, is roughly 1-1/2 times the mass and diameter of the sun, and hotter. Being able to make out the structure of an exoplanet's atmosphere could be helpful as astronomers search for smaller rocky planets capable of harboring life. "In the future, we will likely be able to provide similar observations for smaller and cooler planets and thus more similar to Earth," Prinoth said, especially with the European Southern Observatory's Extremely Large Telescope due to be completed in Chile by the end of the decade as the world's largest optical telescope. "These detailed studies are necessary to provide context for our place in the universe," Seidel said. "Is Earth's climate unique? Can theories we derive from our one data point - Earth - actually explain the whole population of exoplanets?" "With our study we have shown that climates can behave vastly differently that predicted. There is much more diversity out there than what we have at home," Seidel added.
Reuters
19-02-2025
- Science
- Reuters
Astronomers reveal 3D structure of an alien planet's atmosphere
Summary Planet WASP-121b is located 900 light-years from Earth Astronomers used Chile-based Very Large Telescope Iron and titanium found in gas form in planet's atmosphere WASHINGTON, Feb 19 (Reuters) - Astronomers for the first time have deciphered the three-dimensional structure of the atmosphere of a planet beyond our solar system, revealing three layers like a wedding cake on a ferociously hot gas planet that orbits close to a star bigger and hotter than our sun. The researchers peered through the atmosphere of WASP-121b, a planet also called Tylos, by combining all four telescope units of the European Southern Observatory's Chile-based Very Large Telescope, discerning a stratification of layers with different chemical compositions and intense winds. Until now, researchers have been able to determine the atmospheric chemical composition for some planets outside our solar system - called exoplanets - but without mapping the vertical structure or how the chemical elements were distributed. WASP-121b is an "ultra-hot Jupiter," a class of large gas planets that orbit close to their host star, making them extremely hot. Its atmosphere is mainly composed of hydrogen and helium, like that of Jupiter, our solar system's largest planet. But WASP-121b's atmosphere is not like anything ever seen before. The researchers differentiated three layers by looking for the presence of specific elements. WASP-121b's bottom layer was characterized by the presence of iron - a metal in gaseous form because of the incredible heat of the atmosphere. Winds move gas from the planet's eternal hot side to its cooler side. The middle layer was characterized by the presence of sodium, with a jet stream blowing circularly around the planet at about 43,500 miles (70,000 km) per hour - stronger than any winds in our solar system. The upper layer was characterized based on its hydrogen, with some of this layer being lost into space. "This structure has never been observed before and defies current predictions as to how atmospheres should behave," said astronomer Julia Victoria Seidel of the European Southern Observatory and the Lagrange Laboratory at the Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur in France, lead author of the study published this week in the journal Nature, opens new tab. The researchers also detected titanium in gaseous form in WASP-121b's atmosphere. On Earth, neither iron nor titanium exist in the atmosphere because they are solid metal owing to our planet's lower temperatures, relative to WASP-121b. Earth does have a sodium layer in the upper atmosphere. "For me, the most exciting part of this study is that it operates at the very limits of what is possible with current telescopes and instruments," said study co-author Bibiana Prinoth, a doctoral student in astronomy at Lund University in Sweden. WASP-121b has roughly the same mass as Jupiter but twice the diameter, making it puffier. It is located about 900 light-years from Earth in the direction of the constellation Puppis. A light-year is the distance light travels in a year, 5.9 trillion miles (9.5 trillion km). WASP-121b is tidally locked, meaning that one side of it perpetually faces its star and the other side faces away, like the moon is to Earth. The side facing the star has a temperature around 4,900 degrees Fahrenheit (2,700 degrees Celsius/3,000 degrees Kelvin). The other side is at about 2,200 degrees Fahrenheit (1,250 degrees Celsius/1,500 degrees Kelvin). The planet orbits its star at about 2.5% of the distance of Earth to the sun. It is about a third closer to its star than our solar system's innermost planet Mercury is to the sun - so close that it completes an orbit in 1.3 days. Its host star, called WASP-121, is roughly 1-1/2 times the mass and diameter of the sun, and hotter. Being able to make out the structure of an exoplanet's atmosphere could be helpful as astronomers search for smaller rocky planets capable of harboring life. "In the future, we will likely be able to provide similar observations for smaller and cooler planets and thus more similar to Earth," Prinoth said, especially with the European Southern Observatory's Extremely Large Telescope due to be completed in Chile by the end of the decade as the world's largest optical telescope. "These detailed studies are necessary to provide context for our place in the universe," Seidel said. "Is Earth's climate unique? Can theories we derive from our one data point - Earth - actually explain the whole population of exoplanets?" "With our study we have shown that climates can behave vastly differently that predicted. There is much more diversity out there than what we have at home," Seidel added.
Yahoo
18-02-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Exoplanet with iron rain has violent winds 'like something out of science fiction'
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. WASP-121 b is the definition of an "extreme" exoplanet — it's so hot that it rains droplets of liquid iron. Now, astronomers have discovered that this planet, located around 900 light-years away from us, is also ravaged by unexpectedly powerful represents the first time astronomers have been able to study the atmosphere of a planet outside the solar system in such intricate depth and WASP-121 b winds, discovered by a team of astronomers using the Very Large Telescope (VLT) located in the Atacama Desert region of northern Chile, carry elements like iron and titanium around the planet, therefore creating intricate weather patterns. "This planet's atmosphere behaves in ways that challenge our understanding of how weather works — not just on Earth, but on all planets," team leader and Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur researcher Julia Victoria Seidel said in a statement. "It feels like something out of science fiction." Many of the extraordinary features of WASP-121 b arise from the fact that it is an ultra-hot Jupiter, a gas giant planet with around 1.2 times the mass of its solar system namesake. WASP-121 b actually orbits so close to its star that a year there lasts just 30 Earth proximity also means that WASP-121 b is "tidally locked," meaning one side of the world permanently faces its star (its scorching hot dayside) while the other (the nightside) is cooler because it faces out to space in perpetuity. Iron and other metals are vaporized on the scorching hot dayside and are blown across the planet to its nightside, where they condense and fall as liquid metal rains. Delving deep into the atmosphere of WASP-121 b and creating a 3D map of its atmosphere, researchers found different kinds of winds in different layers of the world; they also observed a jet stream spanning half of the planet. As this jet stream gains speed, it appears to violently churn WASP-121 b's atmosphere high up in the sky as it crosses the line between the planet's nightside and dayside, moving toward the hotter half. "What we found was surprising: a jet stream rotates material around the planet's equator, while a separate flow at lower levels of the atmosphere moves gas from the hot side to the cooler side," Seidel said. "This kind of climate has never been seen before on any planet. "Even the strongest hurricanes in the solar system seem calm in comparison." This complex mapping of WASP-121 b's atmosphere was possible thanks to the VLT instrument ESPRESSO (Echelle Spectrograph for Rocky Exoplanets and Stable Spectroscopic Observations). The VLT combines light from different telescopes; it analyzes four times as much light as is available to a single instrument, and this allows it to obtain much fainter details of a planet's atmosphere. The team trained ESPRESSO on WASP-121 b for one full passage in front of its star's face, or one full "transit." This let the researchers detect the signature of multiple chemicals in the atmosphere of the ultra-hot Jupiter across different atmospheric layers. "The VLT enabled us to probe three different layers of the exoplanet's atmosphere in one fell swoop," Leonardo A. dos Santos, team member and a researcher at the Space Telescope Science Institute, said in the statement. Related Stories: — 'Roasting marshmallow' exoplanet is so hot, it rains metal. How did it form? — Extreme 'hot Jupiter' exoplanet stinks like rotten eggs and has raging glass storms — Iron winds and molten metal rains ravage a hellish hot Jupiter exoplanet The researchers tracked the movement of iron, sodium and hydrogen, using these elements to track winds in the deep, middle and shallow layers of WASP-121 b's atmosphere. "It's the kind of observation that is very challenging to do with space telescopes, highlighting the importance of ground-based observations of exoplanets," dos Santos said. One surprise this investigation delivered was the discovery of titanium lurking just below the jet stream. Previous observations of WASP-121 b have shown this element to be absent. The discrepancy could be because the titanium content was hidden deep in the ultra-hot Jupiter's atmosphere. "It's truly mind-blowing that we're able to study details like the chemical makeup and weather patterns of a planet at such a vast distance," Bibiana Prinoth, a researcher at Lund University researcher and author of a companion paper detailing the titanium discovery, said in the statement. The team's research was published on Tuesday (Feb. 18) in the journal Nature.
