Abu Dhabi [UAE], NYU Abu Dhabi Research Scientist Jasmina Blasik and Associate Professor Ian Dobbs-Dixon of the Center for Astrophysics and Space Science (CASS), together with colleagues from the James Webb Space Telescope Transitin Exoplanet Early Release Science (JTEC-ERS) ) The team has harnessed the power of NASA's James Webb Telescope to discover new insights about the climate of a giant, Jupiter-sized exoplanet, including the first observations of dust-filled clouds, recently published in Nature In a study published in Astronomy, researchers detail how they tested the unique capabilities of Webb's Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) and observed the entire orbit of WASP-43b, a giant, gas-filled exoplanet. These "phase curve" observations, made during Webb's inaugural year, revealed the temperature distribution across the planet. Throwing light on the planet and its climate, the researchers found dense clouds, a surprising lack of methane on the planet's night side, and the presence of water ubiquitous in its atmosphere. This is the first time that clouds on the planet's night side, which have been predicted, were found. WASP-43b shares comparable size and mass with Jupiter, at much higher altitudes in the planetary atmosphere than typical clouds observed on Earth, yet it differs significantly in its planetary characteristics.Its host star, WASP-43a, is much cooler and redder than our Sun and lies about 86 light-years from Earth. WASP-43b orbits closer to its star, resulting in a year lasting only 19. hours. . This proximity causes the rotation of the planet. To keep pace with its orbit, one side always faces the star, similar to the tidal locking seen with the Moon, resulting in half of the planet (the dayside) being permanently illuminated in very hot light, While the other part (the night part) was "we observed this planet orbiting around its star using an infrared spectrometer, so we could study the light emitted from different regions of its atmosphere," Blasik said. This allowed us to differentiate between day and day. Identify night temperatures, clouds and the presence of various molecules.Different Chemica species absorb light at different wavelengths in the infrared. By combining this fact with observations of the entire orbit, we were able to constrain chemical composition, cloud coverage, and heat redistribution. draw conclusions about the overall atmosphere and climate of the planet,” he added, adding that the team found that WASP-43b's permanently lit day side is as hot as 2285°F (1250°C), while the planet's night side The portion, although permanently shadowed, is still very hot at 1,115°F (600°C), said Dobbs-Dixon, an expert on the planet's night side. "The absence of direct sunlight between day and night This causes significant temperature differences, which induce the formation of exceptionally strong winds." Dimensional Atmospheric Models and Heat Redistribution of Exoplanet Atmospheres "While winds on Earth form in similar ways due to variations in temperature, WASP-43b's proximity to its host star results in much greater temperature differences. This results in winds of thousands of kilometers per hour. It produced winds at speeds far greater than those on Earth, which were important for distributing heat and shaping the overall planet's climate.Furthermore, comparison of the planet's temperature map with Complex 3 atmospheric models revealed that this temperature contrast is stronger than expected for a cloud-free atmosphere. This suggests that the planet's night sky is covered by a thick layer of clouds that blocks most of the infrared radiation that could otherwise be seen. Unlike Earth's water clouds, the clouds on this extremely hot planet are dust-like and made of rocks and minerals. Amazingly, despite this thick layer of clouds, the JTEC-ERS team detected clear signs of water on the planet's night side. This helped them determine the cloud's height and thickness for the first time, revealing their unusual height and density compared to Earth's clouds.The researchers also detected a wind-driven mixture, called a "chemica disequilibrium," that rapidly transports the gas into the planet's atmosphere. and result from uniform atmospheric chemistry.