There is an exoplanet in space which is a real nightmare. It orbits its sun once every 111 days, and its odd orbit brings it closer to its host sun, resulting in temperature changes of up to 1,100 degrees Fahrenheit, effectively roasting the planet every time it orbits the star.
Say hello to HD 80606 b, an exoplanet four times the size of Jupiter and arguably one of the scariest planets in the universe. This planet is known as Hot Jupiter, which is a nickname for gas planets like Jupiter that are very close to their host star, thus making the world incredibly hot.
HD 80606 b has been the subject of research by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope for its areas of interest, a responsibility it took over from the Spitzer Space Telescope. A 111-day rotation is nothing to write home about, as some Hot Jupiters orbit their planet in a matter of days or weeks. What makes HD 80606 b special is its highly unusual elliptical orbit that brings it shockingly close to its star before sending it back into space.
The idea is that this planet’s unusual orbit is subjecting it to structural changes that would take too long to be seen on other exoplanets, and NASA can use the data to apply what it finds to other hot Jupiter planets in the larger universe.
“Spitzer did amazing work on this exoplanet, and now Webb is building on that legacy by enabling us to distinguish the signatures of certain chemicals like methane and carbon dioxide, which is an amazing advance,” said study co-author Ryan Challener in a blog post. “There’s a lot we can learn from this one dataset — we’re really just starting to decipher what Webb has to tell us.”
HD 80606 b is special, and NASA made a printable horror movie-style poster to show just how scary this planet is.
A roasted exoplanet
The temperature fluctuations in HD 80606 b are so great that NASA dubbed it a “roasted exoplanet” and even created a printable movie poster depicting the hellish conditions the planet experiences during its orbit. Due to extreme temperature fluctuations, the planet experiences a really strange and extreme weather, which is what the James Webb Space Telescope is seeing and scientists are studying.
“Observing a planet like HD 80606 b is actually very efficient because its unusual orbit, and the corresponding changes in temperature and chemical composition, allow us to collect data under different conditions in just hours and apply those findings to other hot Jupiters or more common exoplanets,” Laura C. Mayorga, an exoplanet astronomer at Applied Hopkins in Applied Hood.
The climate of this planet includes strong winds, storms of terrifying waves that fly around the planet at the speed of sound and temperatures over 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit. The atmosphere is really boiling during this time, causing chemical changes and cloud formations that can be seen in real time by the James Webb Space Telescope.
