Updated

Updated · spacedaily.com · Aug 14

Astronomers Measure 33,000 km/h Jet Stream on WASP-127b, 18 Times Neptune’s Winds

Updated

Updated · spacedaily.com · Aug 14

Astronomers Measure 33,000 km/h Jet Stream on WASP-127b, 18 Times Neptune’s Winds

1 articles · Updated · spacedaily.com · Aug 14

A 9 km-per-second equatorial atmospheric motion on WASP-127b—about 33,000 km/h—is the fastest jet stream yet measured on any planet, based on transit data from ESO’s Very Large Telescope.
Water vapour and carbon monoxide produced two Doppler-shifted peaks during a single transit, letting researchers distinguish gas moving toward and away from Earth and infer a rapid eastward equatorial jet.
The peer-reviewed study puts the jet itself at 7.7 ± 0.2 km/s after subtracting the planet’s expected 1.6 km/s rotation; the 33,000 km/h figure reflects maximum combined equatorial motion.
WASP-127b, a low-density hot Jupiter about 520 light-years away, is an unusually favorable target because its inflated atmosphere leaves a strong spectral signal as it crosses its star.
The result shows astronomers can map circulation on an unresolved exoplanet—separating morning and evening terminators and weaker polar signals—and offers a template for future studies with larger telescopes.

Sources

What unseen forces drive a violent 27,700 km/h jet stream on a boiling gas giant located 520 light-years away?

Could the groundbreaking technique used to track these extreme winds eventually reveal breathable atmospheres on potentially habitable planets?

How can scientists accurately map extreme weather patterns on a distant alien world without ever actually seeing its surface?

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