Scientists using the James Webb Space Telescope have mapped the weather on a planet 280 light-years from Earth — a hot gas giant with one side permanently facing its sun and the other cloaked in eternal night.
The temperature difference between the day and night side, which is comparatively cooler at 1,110 F , drives fierce winds that can reach speeds of up to 5,600 mph , the scientists found. The researchers published their extraterrestrial weather report April 30 in the journal Nature Astronomy. "With Hubble, we could clearly see that there is water vapor on the dayside. Both Hubble and Spitzer suggested there might be clouds on the nightside," lead author Taylor Bell, a researcher at the Bay Area Environmental Research Institute in San Jose, California, said in a statement."But we needed more precise measurements from Webb to really begin mapping the temperature, cloud cover, winds, and more detailed atmospheric composition all the way around the planet.
To gauge the temperature of the planet, the researchers used the JWST's Mid-Infrared Instrument to measure light from the system every 10 seconds for more than 24 hours.