Weather on an exoplanet: windy, in some places ruby ​​and sapphire clouds

Weather on an exoplanet: windy, in some places ruby ​​and sapphire clouds

The so-called “hot Jupiter”, located 1000 light-years from Earth, is endowed with clusters of corundum minerals.

For the first time, scientists recorded the weather outside the boundary of the solar system. They found clouds made from the same material from which rubies and sapphires are formed.

The study, published in Nature Astronomy magazine on Monday, collected data from the Kepler space telescope, the purpose of which was to monitor changes in the amount of light coming from target stars. This information may be a sign of a planet passing by or transit to the telescope observation line.

Scientists wanted to understand how many objects with a terrestrial size can exist in our system. But Kepler found other stars, including HAT-P-7b. She is so close to the parent star that her daytime temperature reaches 4,688 degrees Fahrenheit. By combining the results of Kepler’s 4-year surveillance with NASA Spitzer's infrared space observatory data, physicist David Armstrong from Warwick University and his colleagues were able to track the changes in reflected light from HAT-P-7b caused by atmospheric wind speed. This was the first exoplanetary weather report.

“The results show that strong winds circulate around the object, transporting clusters from the night side to the day side. The wind abruptly changes speed, which leads to huge cloud formations, which then subside, ”said Armstrong.

“From a visual point of view, these clouds are simply stunning. Probably, corundum is present in their composition. But it is from it that rubies and sapphires are formed, ”added the University representatives.

Unfortunately, we have little chance to visit the object. After all, in addition to the remote distance, there is an awesome heat that makes it unfit for life.

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