Jan 29 2009
Exoplanet Sees Extreme Heat Waves
New research reveals shock-waves storms echoing across an exoplanet.
One extrasolar planet takes heat waves to the extreme: Within six hours, temperatures on the gas giant can soar by more than 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit (555 degrees C).
The intense baking triggers shock-wave storms that whip around the planet quicker than the speed of sound, carrying with them skyrocketing heat and high-speed winds.
Known as HD 80606b, the gaseous planet was discovered in 2001 by a Swiss planet-hunting team led by Dominique Naef of the Geneva Observatory. It is about four times the mass of Jupiter and is located 200 light-years from Earth. [...]
Wild orbit
HD 80606b’s orbit around its host star — it’s year — is 111.4 Earth-days long. Its day — one rotation about its axis — is thought to last about 34 hours (though the scientists don’t measure this value directly). The interesting thing is that its orbit is very elongated, the most eccentric of any known planet.
Source: Space.com – click here for full article
