Astronomers have just mapped the 3D structure of an alien planet’s atmosphere for the first time, revealing some surprising details about the planet WASP-121b, also known as Tylos. This planet is what’s called an “ultra-hot Jupiter” — a massive gas planet that orbits incredibly close to its star, making it super hot.
WASP-121b’s atmosphere is divided into three distinct layers. The bottom layer has iron in gas form, which is pretty wild because the temperature is so hot that metals are turned into gas. The middle layer has sodium, while the upper layer is made up of hydrogen, with some of it actually escaping into space. These findings are challenging what scientists thought they knew about how atmospheres behave, giving us a deeper look at the variety of climates on exoplanets.
Using the European Southern Observatory’s giant telescopes in Chile, researchers were able to see how these different gases are distributed and detected crazy fast winds around the planet. It turns out that one side of the planet always faces its star, making it super hot, while the other side is much cooler, creating a huge temperature difference.
This discovery is helping astronomers better understand not just this planet, but also what other exoplanet atmospheres might be like. With future research, scientists are hoping to learn more about smaller planets that might resemble Earth and uncover even more mysteries about worlds beyond our own.
WASP-121b
| Planet Radius | 1.753 x Jupiter |
| Planet Type | Gas Giant |
| Discovery Method | Transit |
| Planet Mass | 1.157 Jupiters |
| Discovery Date | 2016 |
| Orbital Radius | 0.02596 AU |
| Orbital Period | 1.3 days |
| Eccentricity | 0.0 |