14 DAY TRIAL // Astronomers using the NASA Spitzer Space Telescope were recently able to take a hard look at the extrasolar planet WASP-14b, and determine some of the most important characteristics of its atmosphere. The new findings are very important for understanding alien worlds.
One of the most interesting thing experts behind the new study learned was that the atmosphere around members of a class of planets called hot Jupiters are not exactly keeping in tune with predictions.
What is truly remarkable about WASP-14b is that it compacts nearly 7 times the mass of Jupiter in a body that is only 30 percent larger. As a direct result, it is among the densest exoplanet ever discovered.
The object releases significant radiation, primarily due to the fact that it's located tremendously close to its parent star. A significant portion of these radiations are in the infrared portion of the electromagnetic spectrum, which is where Spitzer excels at conducting its investigations.
Using the tremendous observational power this telescope has, astronomers were able to catch a glimpse of how WASP-14b's atmosphere looks like. They primarily found that the readings did not match theoretical predictions on the matter.
The new investigation was carried out by a team of experts at the University of Central Florida, which was coordinated by astronomers Jasmina Blecic and Joseph Harrington. The two have been investigating exoplanets using the Spitzer telescope for many years.
By cross-referencing the real-world data with computer models of how the planet's atmosphere was thought to look like, experts were able to figure out that the atmosphere around WASP-14b features no thermal inversion layer.
This is a layer whose temperature changes by a wide margin at any given time, according to how temperatures in layers surrounding it do. On Earth, such a layer was discovered a long while ago, and experts thought that it would exist on hot Jupiters as well
What is even weirder is that other hot Jupiters analyzed to date have revealed telltale signs of a thermal inversion layer, as expected. Determining what sets WASP-14b aside from other planets in its class could reveal important data about how these objects form and develop.
In addition, scientists were also able to calculate that the object has an elliptical orbit around its parent star, which should not be happening. By definition, orbits grow more circular the closer an object gets to the central star in a system.
Due to their close proximity to their parents stars – and the fact that they are tidally-locked to the latter – hot Jupiters almost invariably have circular orbits around their stars, Universe Today reports.