Violent storms on alien planets:
In 1992, American scientists discovered the first planets outside our solar system – a scientific sensation at the time. Well over 500 objects have now been confirmed by astronomers as exoplanets. There are also several hundred other objects identified as possible exoplanets by the Kepler space telescope, according to a recent NASA statement. With this abundance of newly discovered planets, the question as to the exact structure of these objects and the conditions prevailing on them naturally arises. This is a field of research still in its infancy and shrouded in speculation, since the information that can be derived directly from measurements is severely limited. For example, astronomers can only indirectly infer whether a particular exoplanet has a solid core and how thick its atmosphere is.
The main problem when studying exoplanets is that they emit only very little light compared to the star around which they orbit. The low intensity of light makes it exceedingly difficult to carry out spectral analyses that yield information about the chemical structure of the object. Nevertheless, a few things can now be said about these exoplanets, as Kevin Heng, Zwicky Fellow at the Institute for Astronomy at ETH Zurich, showed in an article published recently in the scientific journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.
Temperature shift
Based on observations up to now, Kevin Heng used simulation models to reconstruct the climatic conditions that might prevail on various exoplanets. For example he calculated that violent winds – with speeds of several kilometres per second – are present on one of the biggest of the exoplanets discovered so far.
This exoplanet studied by Heng orbits relatively close to its star. Experts call such objects “hot Jupiters”.
Astronomers conclude by theoretical inference that the orientation of such planets relative to their star is fixed, i.e. the light from their star always illuminates them on the same side – similar to the way the same side of the Moon always faces towards the Earth. Thus, hot Jupiters are expected to have permanent day and night sides.
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