Astronomers have discovered a planet where the sun shines every day.
But sadly for Brits, it’s 280 light years away.
It is actually an ‘exoplanet’ which refers to any planet beyond our solar system.
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Known as WASP-43 b, it is a hot gas giant that is orbiting a star and is around 280 light years away from our solar system.
One side is continuously illuminated and the other is in permanent darkness.
Researchers have recently noticed a pattern of dramatic weather on WASP-43 b.
This includes clear skies on the dayside, but also winds at its equator that reach an insane 5,000 mph.
It is much hotter than any of the giant planets in our own solar system, but its star is smaller and cooler than the sun.
WASP-43 b is a ‘hot Jupiter’ type of exoplanet, as reported by What’s The Jam.
It is similar in size to Jupiter and also made primarily from hydrogen and helium.
It orbits at a distance of just 1.3 million miles – less than 1/25th the distance between Mercury and the Sun.
An international team of researchers has been using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope to record the temperature of the planet that was first discovered in 2011.
The team measured light from the WASP-43 b system every 10 seconds and were able to calculate the temperature of the light side at 1,250°C. The dark side reached 600°C.
Dr Joanna Barstow, from Open University and co-author of the research said: “JWST is a game changer for studying exoplanet atmospheres. In less than two years of science operations we have already learned so much.”
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