<\/p>\n Given the extreme conditions of this exoplanet, it is little wonder that its atmosphere is pretty unusual too. Using a new technique called transmission strings, a team of scientists mapped the contours of the atmosphere of WASP-17b. They found that the atmosphere is shaped like a ring with prominent “gems” rising from it.<\/p>\n “Planets are temperamental, their atmospheres complex and chaotic,” team member Hannah Wakeford of the University of Bristol said in a statement.<\/a> “The fact that all of these numbers came together and showed us this very structured, dynamical picture of this giant world over 1,000 light-years away was just really exciting.”<\/p>\n Astronomers like WASP-17b so much they put a ring on it<\/p>\n WASP-17b is so close to its parent star that it is tidally locked, meaning one side permanently faces the star; its dayside is constantly bombarded with stellar radiation. In contrast, the planet also has a cooler nightside, which faces out into space in perpetuity.<\/p>\n You may like<\/p>\n By creating incredibly comprehensive 3D views of this exoplanet’s atmosphere, researchers found that WASP-17b’s atmosphere has a chemical composition and temperature that shift between dayside and nightside according to theory and modelling.<\/p>\n This was possible because the transmission strings technique tracked WASP-17b as it crossed or transited in front of its star, capturing the composition of light around the edge of the planet’s atmosphere, or limb, from different angles. This method trumps standard approaches because traditional modelling only maps light as an average across the entire limb.<\/p>\n “Rather than assuming your atmosphere is a circle with the same radius all the way around, our technique allows you to pull out different distances from the center to the edge of the planet,” Lili Alderson, of Cornell University, said. “We’re able to go around the edge.<\/p>\n “So, we’ve gone from a ring to understanding where on the ring the gemstones are, so to speak.”<\/p>\n The modelling showed just such a “gem,” that occurs where hot winds from the planet reach the equator and the nightside of WASP-17b, the atmosphere of the cooler side inflates.<\/p>\n \n An illustration of the atmosphere of WASP-17b with “gems” rising from it. (Image credit: Robert Lea)<\/p>\n “Theory predicts that the morning and the evening sides should have a strong temperature difference, and WASP-17b fits really nicely in that trend \u2013 pretty much bang-on what we thought it would be,” Alderson said.<\/p>\n The successful application of the transmission strings method is an exciting step forward in the modelling of the atmospheres of the over 6,000 worlds in NASA’s exoplanet catalog<\/a>.<\/p>\n “This is proof of concept that planets are, in fact, 3D objects, and that, consistently, as they go around their star, what we predict should be happening is happening,” Alderson concluded. “To move beyond computational exercises and see it for real is a different matter.”<\/p>\n![\"Space\"](\"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/flexiimages\/dpnbewsyjn1783958986.svg\")
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