An exoplanet has been discovered with winds traveling at an astonishing 5,400 miles per hour over its surface — that’s several times the speed of sound.
It’s also 20 times the speed of the fastest wind gust ever recorded on Earth, which was 253 miles per hour during Cyclone Olivia near Australia by a weather station back in 2006, according to a Daily Mail report.
The discovery is significant not just because of the amazing forces at work on exoplanet HD 189733b, but because of the fact that it’s the first time scientists have measured and mapped the weather system on a planet outside our solar system.
Tom Loudon led a research team from the University of Warwick in the study, and they utilized the High Accuracy Radial velocity Planet Searcher telescope in Chile to come to their conclusions. He said it’s the first time a weather map had ever been accurately made outside of our solar system, and it could lead to further research of other exoplanets and their weather systems. Scientists have known planets can have winds like this, but no one had ever mapped it out.
The planet, although completely inhospitable to life because of its extreme conditions, would most certainly be a spectacular sight if humans could get close enough to it. Scientists believe the planet is tidally locked in with its star, and that it is a gas giant only slightly bigger than Jupiter. Its day side would glow a bright blue, while its night side would be a striking red color.
As extreme as Jupiter’s conditions are, it would be nothing like that of this exoplanet, which is 180 times closer to its star than Jupiter. That means the average temperature is a toasty 1,800 degrees Celsius.
Hopefully, this new technique will lead to more weather maps of smaller planets as well, which could help us find one that potentially houses alien life.