A new study reveals the structure of violent winds 1,300 light years away
Julia Victoria Seidel, ESO Research Fellow - visiteuse long durée Lab Lagrange, Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur, Observatoire Européen Austral
The planet WASP-121b is extreme. It’s a gas giant almost twice as big as Jupiter orbiting extremely close to its star–50 times closer than the Earth does around the Sun. WASP-121b is so close to its star that tidal forces have locked its rotation in a “resonance”: the planet always shows the same face to its star, like the Moon to the Earth. Therefore, one side of WASP-121b constantly bakes in light whereas the other is in perpetual night. This difference causes huge variations in temperature...