The planet WASP-121b is extreme. It's a gas giant almost twice as big as Jupiter orbiting extremely close to its star-50 times closer than the Earth does around the sun. WASP-121b is so close to its star that tidal forces have locked its rotation in a "resonance": the planet always shows the same face to its star, like the moon to the Earth. Therefore, one side of WASP-121b constantly bakes in light whereas the other is in perpetual night. This difference causes huge variations in temperature ac...
A new study reveals the structure of violent winds 1,300 light years away
Phys.org - 1 Mar 2025 20:10
The planet WASP-121b is extreme. It's a gas giant almost twice as big as Jupiter orbiting extremely close to its star-50 times closer than the Earth does around the sun. WASP-121b is so close to its star that tidal forces have locked its rotation in a "resonance": the planet always shows the same face to its star, like the moon to the Earth. Therefore, one side of WASP-121b constantly bakes in light whereas the other is in perpetual night. This difference causes huge variations in temperature ac...
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