Scientists find planet with supersonic winds – TabascoHOY.com

 A group of astronomers from the University of Warwick, in the UK, have been described in detail for the first time the atmosphere of an exoplanet from outside the Solar System. This is one particular popular planets called “hot Jupiters” and that is especially appealing to astronomers because of its proximity to Earth. What I found the team of British scientists, in particular, it is with some winds that would total two kilometers per second, about 20 times more than those known on Earth and about seven times the speed of sound, reports this center university said in a statement.

 
 

 “HD 189733b,” which happens to be 10% larger than Jupiter and 180 times closer to its star than our neighbor. Specifically, it is 63 light years away from Earth, according to media as “RT” or “Report 21.com” and previous studies have shown that the visible side of the planet is similar to a bright blue shadow to the human eye, probably due to clouds of silicate particles of the atmosphere.

 
 

 For Tom Louden, astrophysics group at the University of Warwick and a participant in this research stressed that “this is the first time we get a map of a planet outside our solar system. Although we have previously known exoplanets wind, we had never been able to measure and analyze them directly. ” Something they have achieved thanks to Planet Searcher High Accuracy Radial velocity or HARPS (High Accuracy Radial velocity the Planet Searcher, in English) installed in the observatory in La Silla (Chile).

 
 

 Measurements

 

 Upon discovery, the exoplanet ‘HD 189733b, “the British university researchers have measured the speeds of the two sides of this space body and found a strong wind speeds of 5,400 miles per hour (approximately 8690.4 kilometers) from the visible side of the plant to the dark.

 
 

 “The speed of” HD 189733b “was measured using absorption spectroscopy characteristic of sodium atmosphere. As part of this exoplanet’s atmosphere this phenomenon moves outward by the Doppler effect, which changes the wavelength, allowing speeds are measured, “he explained Louden.

 
 

 In this sense, this researcher from the University of Warwick added that “The surface of the star – that revolves around this exoplaneta- is brighter in the center than at the edge, so as the planet moves in front of the Star the relative amount of light in different parts was bloqueda by changes in the atmosphere of the exoplanet. For the first time we have used this information to measure the velocities on opposite sides of the body, which has given us the map of speed. “

 
 

 Louden has shown “very excited” to have found a way to map time on distant planets. In line with this, the researcher and his team hope to study with “more detail” these winds and do similar analysis on smaller or characteristics common to Earth planets.

 
 

— AVP