The Wasp-121B is so close to its star that the attraction of the tide stretches the egg-shaped exoplanet
The gaseous giant Wasp-121b, also known as Tylos, has a unique atmospheric structure-unlike anything that has already been discovered. This exoplanet also recorded the fastest winds of all the planets already known.
An international team of astrophysicists, including three Portuguese, mapped for the first time the three -dimensional structure of the atmosphere of a planet outside the solar system WASP-121b And he found that he has a unique climate.
The study was this Tuesday in Nature and had the contribution of Portuguese researchers from the Institute of Astrophysics and Space Sciences (IA) Nuno Santos, Sérgio Sousa and Yuri Damasceno.
The extrasol planet concerned, also called Tylos, is located 900 light years from Earth, in the stern constellation, and has been studied since 2015.
Quoted in AI statement, researcher Yuri Damasceno points out that Tylos “is part of a family of planets that have the highest temperatures“Who are known to” throughout the universe “planets.
Tylos is a Gaseous giant similar in mass to Jupiterthe largest planet in the solar system, has temperatures over 2,000ºC and orbits so close its star that completes a return in 30 hours.
As it writes, this narrow orbit warms the atmosphere of the planet to 2500 ° C temperatureshot enough to boil iron.
But if the planet has one side always turned to the star, so it is extremely hot; The other side is permanently in the dark, which makes it much cooler.
Thanks to the VLT telescope, operated by the Southern European Observatory (OES) in Chile, the team found that the Tylos atmosphere has three layers: one deeper with iron winds, another intermediate with a very fast jet chain that transports sodium and a superior with hydrogen winds.
Observing the planet while moving through its star, one of VLT’s high -resolution concea concerts managed to detect chemical signatures in the Tylos atmosphere and detect its different layers.
“What we found was surprising: a jet stream rotates the material around the planet’s equator, while a separate flow at the lower levels of the atmosphere moves the gas on the warm side to the colder side. This type of climate has never been seen before on any planet, ”said the study leader, Julia Seidelcited in a statement from OES, an astronomical organization of which Portugal is part.
A complementary study, in Astronomy and AstrophysicsThe presence of titanium below the jet stream revealed, which admired scientists, since previous observations on the planet had not identified this chemical element, “possibly because it was hidden in the deepest layers of the atmosphere.”
According to scientists, the results of the discoveries released open the way to more detailed studies on the chemical composition and the climate of other extraterrestrial worlds.
