New Cloud-Detecting Method Will Help Astronomers Characterize Exoplanets

Artistic representation of WASP-94A. Clouds build as air flows over the dark side of the planet, reaching a large swell by daybreak. The clouds dissipate on the dayside, leaving clear skies in the early evening. Credit: Hannah Robbins/Johns Hopkins University

Astronomers have developed a technique that allows them to detect cloud cycles on distant exoplanets. Using data from the James Webb Sapce Telescope (JWST), the astronomers found that mornings and evenings on the gas giant WASP-94A b have extremely different weather patterns: mornings are riddled with sand clouds, while the skies are clear in the early evenings. By isolating the clouds, researchers can more accurately measure a planet’s atmosphere and provide a clearer picture of the planet’s composition. WASP-94A b, for example, has much less oxygen and carbon than astronomers perviously calculated, making its atmosphere much more like Jupiter than they had originally thought.

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