Discover planet half hot, half cold

Thanks to the Spitzer telescope of the US Space Agency, astronomers first measured the temperature on a planet outside the Solar System and found it to have an extremely hot side and an extreme side. cold.

Planet Upsilon Andromeda b
(Photo: black-cat-studios)

The findings were published at a meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Pasadena, California and published in the October issue of Science.

The planet, 40 light-years from Earth (400 trillion km), was named Upsilon Andromeda b , about 75% heavier than Jupiter and turned its star trajectory within 4.6 days.

Upsilon Andromeda b was discovered in 1996 and is visible to the naked eye at night in the constellation Andromeda.

The researchers determined the temperature difference in the bright half and the dark half of the planet could be up to 1,600 degrees Celsius: its illuminated side could be as hot as 1,400-1,650 degrees Celsius while the other side has a negative temperature of 20-230 degrees C.

'The temperature difference between the day and night areas tells us how energy flows in this planet's atmosphere. Basically, we are studying the weather in a strange planet, 'said Joe Harrington , a scientist at Central Florida University in Orlando.

According to the researchers, this finding could completely change the views of scientists about giant gas planets. Most astronomers think they are as hot as Jupiter, but the planet clearly has a hot side and a cold side.

WALL VY