Buzz
An artist's depiction of the HD 189733 system, featuring a Sun-like star and HD 189733b, a Jupiter-sized exoplanet orbiting it.
Brace yourself: Researchers have identified winds on an exoplanet that are 20 times swifter than the fastest winds ever recorded on Earth. These extreme winds on HD 189733b reach speeds of 5400 mph—seven times faster than the speed of sound.
As detailed in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, astronomers from the University of Warwick found that HD 189733b, a "hot Jupiter" located 63 light-years away, experiences surface winds exceeding 2 km per second. This exoplanet, which orbits its star every 2.2 days and is 30 times closer to its star than Earth is to the Sun, marks the first instance of a weather system being directly measured and mapped on a planet outside our solar system.
By employing high-resolution spectroscopy, researchers identified sodium absorption in the planet's atmosphere. The Doppler effect, caused by the atmosphere moving toward or away from Earth, shifts the wavelength, enabling precise velocity measurements.
This method holds potential for discovering Earth-like planets. "We are thrilled to have developed a way to map weather patterns on distant exoplanets," said Peter Wheatley, co-author of the study from the University of Warwick’s Astrophysics Group, in a press release. "As we refine this technique, we’ll be able to analyze wind patterns in greater detail and create weather maps for smaller planets. Ultimately, this approach will enable us to visualize weather systems on planets resembling Earth."
