The James Webb Space Telescope has examined an alien planet. Eternal day and night

The James Webb Space Telescope has been providing scientifically valuable images for more than two years. The powerful observatory is also capable of studying the atmospheres of distant exoplanets, those outside the solar system. Astronomers decided to take a closer look at the planet called Wasp-39B.

WASP-39 b is an alien exoplanet that is so close to its star that it is so tightly bound to it that one side is always facing it. This makes this world On the side of the star there is an eternal day. while On the other side it’s still nightLikewise, the moon is attached to the earth and that is why we only see one side of it at all times.

The exoplanet is located about 700 light-years away and orbits a star called WASP-39. The planet is a gas giant with a mass about 0.28 times that of Jupiter. It is very close to the star, only 0.0486 astronomical units (one is the average distance of Earth from the Sun) and therefore One “year” there lasts only 4 Earth days.This world was discovered in 2011.

To study this planet, astronomers decided to use the James Webb Space Telescope, which was first directed at it in 2022. During the data collection, the following were used, among others: Near-infrared spectrometer.

Research has shown that the day side and night side differ greatly in temperature. These are: 200 degree fluctuationsIn addition, the direction of the strong winds reaching it was noted. Speed ​​is measured in thousands of kilometers per hour.They blow from the night side to the morning side, then the day side, and finally they head towards the evening.

We know that astronomers plan to continue exploring the data provided by the James Webb Space Telescope. On the basis of it, weather patterns have been created, which will certainly be used when studying other exoplanets.

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