By Margherita Bassi Published February 23, 2025 | Comments (2) | The 3D layers of Tylos's atmosphere. European Southern Observatory Astronomers have uncovered the secrets of an alien atmosphere on an exoplanet far beyond our Solar System, and its unlike anything weve ever seen before. In a scientific first, an international team of astronomers has 3D mapped the atmosphere of planet WASP-121b, also known as Tylos. Using the European Southern Observatorys Very Large Telescope (yes, thats really what its called), they identified complex weather patterns and a surprising chemical composition. Their study, published in an early unedited version on Tuesday in the journal Nature, paves the way for future research into extraterrestrial atmospheres. This planets atmosphere behaves in ways that challenge our understanding of how weather works not just on Earth, but on all planets. It feels like something out of science fiction, Julia Victoria Seidel, a physicist at the European Southern Observatory (ESO) in Chile and lead author of the study, said in an ESO statement. Its worth mentioning that, since the official definition of planet remains limited to celestial bodies within our solar system (some astronomers are proposing to change this), Tylos is technically an exoplanetbut astronomers sometimes stick to planet for simplicitys sake. This experience makes me feel like were on the verge of uncovering incredible things we can only dream about now. The exoplanet in question is a gas giant (a large planet primarily made of helium and/or hydrogen) roughly 900 light years away from Earth. It closely orbits its star in just around 30 hoursso close, in fact, that Tylos is also classified as an ultra-hot Jupiter: an extremely large and hot planet with a very tight orbit. The time it takes Tylos to complete one orbit is the same time it takes the gas giant to complete one rotation, meaning that one of Tylos sides permanently faces its star and is much hotter than the other (i.e. its tidally locked). Seidel and her colleagues analyzed the exoplanets atmosphere using all four telescope units of the ESOs VLT. By tracing iron, sodium, and hydrogen, they were able to investigate the planets distinct deep, mid, and upper atmospheric layers.The VLT enabled us to probe three different layers of the exoplanets atmosphere in one fell swoop, said Leonardo A. dos Santos, an assistant astronomer at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore who participated in the study. Its the kind of observation that is very challenging to do with space telescopes, highlighting the importance of ground-based observations of exoplanets, he added. The structure and movement of Tylos atmosphere. European Southern Observatory The team then created a 3D map of their observations, unveiling an alien atmosphere outside of our Solar System in unprecedented detail.What we found was surprising: a jet stream rotates material around the planets equator, while a separate flow at lower levels of the atmosphere moves gas from the hot side to the cooler side. This kind of climate has never been seen before on any planet, Seidel explained. In comparison to the size and speed of Tylos jet stream, even the strongest hurricanes in the Solar System seem calm in comparison, she added. Additionally, a companion studypublished earlier this week in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics by some of the same researchersnotes the discovery of titanium below the jet stream. Previous research had not spotted this chemical presence, perhaps because of its depth within the atmosphere. Its truly mind-blowing that were able to study details like the chemical makeup and weather patterns of a planet at such a vast distance, said Bibiana Prinoth, a PhD student in astronomy and astrophysics at Lund University. This experience makes me feel like were on the verge of uncovering incredible things we can only dream about now. Prinoth co-authored the Nature paper and led the companion piece. Prinoths excitement is well placed. Future telescopessuch as ESOs forthcoming Extremely Large Telescope (ELT)will allow researchers to conduct similar atmospheric analyses of smaller Earth-like planets. The ELT will be a game-changer for studying exoplanet atmospheres, Prinoth concluded.Daily NewsletterYou May Also Like By Isaac Schultz Published February 15, 2025 By Isaac Schultz Published February 10, 2025 By Isaac Schultz Published January 31, 2025 By Passant Rabie Published January 21, 2025 By Isaac Schultz Published January 10, 2025 By Isaac Schultz Published December 24, 2024