By Passant Rabie Published January 21, 2025 | Comments (0) | Artists Impression Of Supersonic Winds On Wasp 127b ESO/L. Calada The farthest planet from the Sun, Neptune, is the windiest place in the solar system, with winds that whip through at speeds reaching more than 0.3 miles per second (0.5 kilometers per second). Thats a relatively pleasant wind speed compared to a giant, puffy planet located around 500 lightyears away from Earth. Supersonic winds on this exoplanet, designated WASP-127b, travel at a mind-bending 5.5 miles per second (9 kilometers per second). The speed of sound on Earth is roughly 0.21 miles per second (0.34 km/sec), making these winds supersonic by our terrestrial standards. The recently discovered extraterrestrial jet stream is the fastest ever measured on a planet, providing new insight into extreme weather that pummel other worlds. Using European Southern Observatorys (ESO) Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile, a team of astronomers measured the extremely powerful winds that are raging on the equator of WASP-127b. At speeds of up to 20,500 miles per hour (33,000 kilometers per hour), the jet winds move at nearly six times the speed at which the planet rotates, according to a study published today in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics. An animated visual of the exoplanet reveals a gnarly scene as the winds pummel the equator of WASP-127b with extreme ferocity. Part of the atmosphere of this planet is moving towards us at a high velocity while another part is moving away from us at the same speed, Lisa Nortmann, a scientist at the University of Gttingen, Germany, and lead author of the study, said in a statement. This signal shows us that there is a very fast, supersonic, jet wind around the planets equator.Astronomers discovered the exoplanet in 2016, a gas giant thats slightly larger than Jupiter with a fraction of its mass, making it rather puffy. WASP-127b takes a little over four days to orbit around its star, a yellow dwarf, or G-type star, which are typically less massive and cooler than our Sun. Ever since its discovery, scientists have been probing the planet to learn more about its weather patterns. The team behind the new study used VLT to trace the planets composition by measuring how the light of its host star travels through its upper atmosphere. The results revealed the presence of water vapor and carbon monoxide molecules in the planets atmosphere. The speed at which this material moved through the atmosphere, however, uncovered a rather odd double peak, according to the study, which meant that one side of the atmosphere is moving towards us and the other away from us at high speeds.This is something we havent seen before. Based on their measurements, the researchers concluded that extremely powerful winds dominated the planets equator, appearing to squeeze the gas giant as parts of its atmosphere move in opposite directions. This is something we havent seen before, Nortmann said. As the study also revealed, the planets poles are cooler than the rest of it, and it experiences slightly different temperatures on its morning and evening sides. This shows that the planet has complex weather patterns just like Earth and other planets of our own System, Fei Yan, a professor at the University of Science and Technology of China, and co-author of the study, said in a statement. Scientists are learning more about planets that orbit stars other than our own, analyzing the atmosphere of other worlds with extreme precision as a way to piece together our own origin story. Understanding the dynamics of these exoplanets helps us explore mechanisms such as heat redistribution and chemical processes, improving our understanding of planet formation and potentially shedding light on the origins of our own Solar System, David Cont from the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Germany, and a co-author of the paper, said in a statement.With more than 5,000 exoplanets discovered so far, weve still got a lot of learning to do.Daily NewsletterYou May Also Like By Isaac Schultz Published January 15, 2025 By Isaac Schultz Published January 9, 2025 By Isaac Schultz Published January 8, 2025 By Isaac Schultz Published January 8, 2025 By Isaac Schultz Published January 2, 2025 By Ed Cara Published December 26, 2024