Exoplanet Has Extreme Weather with Winds of 5400 MPH

Winds of over 2 kilometers per second have been discovered speeding past a planet outside of Earth's solar system. The exoplanet's weather system has officially been directly measured and mapped, revealing a bit more about the conditions on other planets.

"This is the first ever weather map from outside of our solar system," said Tom Louden, one of the researchers, in a news release. "Whilst we have previously known of wind on exoplanets, we have never before been able to directly measure and map a weather system."

The new weather system was spotted on the exoplanet HD 189733b. The researchers measured velocities on both sides of the planet, and found a strong wind moving at over 5,400 mph blowing from its dayside to its night side.

The planet itself is actually one of the most studied of a class of planets known as "Hot Jupiters." Over 10 percent larger than Jupiter and about 180 times closer to its star, the exoplanet is a popular target for astronomers due to its proximity to our solar system.

"The surface of the star is brighter at the center than it is at the edge, so as the planet moves in front of the star the relative amount of light blocked by different parts of the atmosphere changes," said Louden. "For the first time we've used this information to measure the velocities on opposite sides of the planet independently, which gives us our velocity map."

The findings could be used to help study Earth-like planets. It could help pinpoint which planets, in particular, have weather which could be hospitable to life.

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