Similar to Jupiter, WASP-18 b is a gas giant, but around 400 light-years away from our solar system. Due to the harsh conditions, it is not particularly interesting for research as a potential haven for extraterrestrial life, but it can help to explain how the universe developed after the Big Bang. As part of an international study, astronomers from the Graz Institute for Space Research (IWF) helped to create a temperature map of the distant planet in three dimensions – the first of its kind.
