James Webb Space Telescope spots fierce winds on exoplanet WASP-43b

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The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has spotted winds blowing at unprecedented speeds on the exoplanetWASP-43b, which is around 283light-years away from Earth. Theexoplanet'sone sidepermanently facesits sunandthe other is cloaked in eternal night. WASP-43b is composed primarily ofhydrogen and helium and is significantly hotter than any gas giant in the solarsystem,due to itscloseness to its host star, which it orbits once every 19 Earth hours.

According to a report by Live Science, this proximity meant thatWASP-43b was also tidally locked to its star. The report said that researchers discoveredthat this tidal lock permanently heats one side of the planet to temperatures around1,260 degrees Celsius.

A change in temperature that drives fierce winds

In a recent study, scientists discovered that the temperature difference between the day and night side drove fierce winds that could reach speedsofup to 9,000 km/hour.

In a statement,Taylor Bell, a researcher from the Bay Area Environmental Research Institute and thestudy'sleadauthorsaid,"With Hubble, we could clearly see that there is water vapour on the dayside. Both Hubble and Spitzer suggested there might be clouds on the nightside."

"But we needed more precise measurements from Webb to really begin mapping the temperature, cloud cover, winds, and more detailed atmospheric composition all the way around the planet,”Bell added.

The scientists usedWebb’sMIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument) to measure light from the WASP-43 system every 10 seconds for more than 24 hours. “By observing over an entire orbit, wewere able tocalculate the temperature of different sides of the planet as they rotate into view,”Bell said.

"The measurements show that the dayside has an average temperature of nearly 2,300 degrees Fahrenheit (1,250 degrees Celsius) – hot enough to forge iron. Meanwhile, the nightside is significantly cooler at 1,100 degrees Fahrenheit (600 degrees Celsius),"the statement said.

"The data also helps locate the hottest spot on the planet (the“hotspot”), which is shifted slightly eastward from the point that receives the most stellar radiation, where the star is highest in theplanet’ssky. This shift occurs because of supersonic winds, which move heated air eastward,"it added.

Exoplanet discovered in 2011

WASP-43bwas discoveredin 2011. According to NASA, WASP-43borbits a K-type star.The exoplanet was initially studied bythe Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes.

However, the JWST has now captured the finer details of its atmosphere.

(With inputs from agencies)