James Webb Telescope Makes Groundbreaking Discovery on Wasp-43b – Predicting Weather on Distant Planet

SPIRIT – The James Webb Telescope recently made an interesting discovery by predicting the weather on a distant planet. The planet is called Wasp-43b.

Wasp-43b, an exoplanet located about 283 light years from Earth. Using this powerful telescope, researchers were able to predict actual wind speeds, scorching temperatures, and layers of rocky clouds around the planet.

This planet is famous for its proximity to its star, WASP-43, which causes one side of the planet to always face the star. As a result, this side receives constant radiation, increasing the temperature on the surface to 1,250 degrees Celsius. This temperature is hot enough to melt lead.

Meanwhile, the other side, which always faces outer space, has a much lower temperature, around 600 degrees Celsius.

Using the Middle Infrared Instrument (MIRI), the research team succeeded in classifying Wasp-43b’s climate and the type of weather it experiences on its day and night sides. The results showed strong winds, large changes in temperature, and clouds that were likely made of rock.

“With JWST’s new observing power, WASP-43b has been revealed in detail,” said team member Laura Kreidberg, Director at the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy (MPIA), in a statement.

The researchers also found that Wasp-43b’s atmosphere contains water vapor on both sides, both those exposed to direct sunlight and those not. However, they also found a lack of methane in the planet’s atmosphere. This is an anomaly for such a planet. They suspect that the strong winds of the planet prevent the formation of methane on the night side.

Further research using the James Webb telescope is still underway to gain a deeper understanding of the atmospheric environment and severe weather on this fascinating planet.

The latest findings about Wasp-43b were published in a scientific journal Astrology of nature.