Astronomers catch a glimpse of a uniquely inflated and asymmetric exoplanet
Artist's illustration of the exoplanet WASP-107b based on transit observations from NASA's James Webb Space Telescope as well as other space- and ground-based telescopes, led by Matthew Murphy of the University of Arizona and a team of researchers around the world.
Astronomers from the University of Arizona, along with an international group of researchers, observed the atmosphere of a hot and uniquely inflated exoplanet using NASA's James Webb Space Telescope. The exoplanet, which is the size of Jupiter but only a tenth of its mass, is found to have east-west asymmetry in its atmosphere, meaning that there is a significant difference between the two edges of its atmosphere.
The findings are published in the journal Nature Astronomy.
"This is the first time the east-west asymmetry of any exoplanet has ever been observed as it transits its star, from space," said lead study author Matthew Murphy, a graduate student at the U of A Steward Observatory. A transit is when a planet passes in front of its star – like the moon does during a solar eclipse.
"I think observations made from space have a lot of different advantages versus observations that are made from the ground," Murphy said.
Matthew Murphy