Scientists discovered an exoplanet that had 5400 winds. It also has a temperature of 1200degC and is located about 63 lightyears from Earth. The University of Warwick, England, has mapped the weather system of the exoplanet HD 189733b. Extrasolar planets are also called exoplanets. They orbit their star and are outside the Solar System. According to Tom Louden, Peter J. Wheatley and the University of Warwick Astrophysics Group, wind blows at HD 189733b’s surface at seven times speed of sound or twenty times what has been documented on Earth. HD 189733b features extremely fast winds and bright blue days. Image: University of Warwick. Mr. Louden is a doctoral student who said that the 2 km per second winds were the first time he had seen a weather map outside of the solar system. While we know that wind exists on exoplanets and have measured wind speed on each side of HD b, this was the first time we were able to map weather systems. The astrophysicists detected an 5400 wind speed of (8690 km/h (from its day-to-night side). Louden stated that HD 189733b was able to measure its velocity using high-resolution spectroscopy, which measures the Sodium absorption in its atmosphere. Measurement of the exoplanet’s wind speed. The star’s surface is more bright at the centre than its edges. The amount of light that is blocked by different parts of the atmosphere alters as the exoplanet moves towards it. This data was used by the researchers to determine the speed of HD 189733b on each side, which allowed them to create their velocity map. The scientists could directly map the weather system of the exoplanet by measuring its movement in front its star as it moved. Image: University of Warwick. Dr. Wheatley thinks their method could be useful for scientists studying Earth-like planets to find extraterrestrial life. Wheatley stated that the method to map distant weather systems was a breakthrough. We will continue to develop this technique and be able study the wind flow in greater detail. This will also allow us to make weather maps for smaller planets. This type of exoplanet is a popular target for science. HD 189733b can be described as a “Hot Jupiter” – although it is slightly larger than 10%, it is 180 closer to Jupiter than Jupiter and has a temperature of around 1200 degrees Celsius. Because of its size and closeness (astronomically speaking), to the Solar System, HD 189733b is a popular target for astronomers and astrophysicists. Based on previous studies, HD 189733b would appear as a pale blue color to the human eye. This is likely due to clouds of silicate particles high in the atmosphere. Data from High Accuracy Radial Velocity Planet Searcher was used by the researchers. Image: ESO. Mr. Louden, Dr. Wheatley collected data from High Accuracy Radical Velocity Planet Searcher. (HARPS) is a high-precision echelle spectrograph that was installed at 2002 La Silla Observatory in Chile. HARPS discovered more 130 exoplanets during its active life span. Refer to: “Spatially resolved easternward winds and rotation HD b,” Peter J. Wheatley, and Tom Louden. Cornell University Library. This article was submitted Nov 11, 2015. arXiv: 1511. 03689 [astro-ph.EP].
Discovered an exoplanet that has 5400 mph winds, 1200 degree Celsius temperature
