Weather on Exoplanet WASP-121b (Tylos)

  • Released Tuesday, January 30, 2024
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This visualization has been adapted for hyperwall from the original release on hubblesite.org.
An international team of astronomers assembled and reprocessed Hubble observations of exoplanet WASP-121 b, also known as Tylos, in the years 2016, 2018 and 2019. They found clear evidence that the observations of WASP-121 b were varying in time. The team then used sophisticated modelling techniques to demonstrate that these temporal variations could be explained by weather patterns in the exoplanet's atmosphere, specifically, massive cyclones that are repeatedly created and destroyed due to the huge temperature difference between the star-facing and dark side of the exoplanet.

This visualization shows the temperature forecast spanning 130 exoplanet-days, across sunrise, noon, sunset and midnight for the exoplanet WASP-121 b. The brighter yellow regions depict areas in the day side of the exoplanet where temperatures soar well above 2,100 degrees Kelvin (3,320 degrees Fahrenheit); due to the close proximity to its host star.

This visualization shows weather paterns spanning 130 exoplanet-days for the exoplanet WASP-121 b. The brighter yellow regions depict areas in the day side of the exoplanet where temperatures soar well above 2,100 degrees Kelvin (3,320 degrees Fahrenheit); due to the close proximity to its host star.

For More Information

See https://hubblesite.org/contents/news-releases/2024/news-2024-003

Credits

Please give credit for this item to:
Visualization: NASA, ESA, Quentin Changeat (ESA/STScI), Mahdi Zamani (ESA/Hubble)

This page was originally published on Tuesday, January 30, 2024.
This page was last updated on Friday, October 11, 2024 at 12:32 AM EDT.

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