Julia Seidel study suggests magnetic fields slow hot Jupiter winds
Turns out, some giant exoplanets called hot Jupiters, which orbit super close to their stars, have much slower winds than scientists expected.
Even though these planets are blazing hot, the study led by Julia Seidel found their atmospheric winds crawl along instead of racing.
The likely culprit? a magnetic field that seem to be putting the brakes on those speedy gasses.
Hotter hot Jupiters have weaker winds
Researchers used powerful instruments (MAROON-X and ESPRESSO) to check out seven hot Jupiters and found wind speeds between 2 and 7km per second, way less than predicted for such extreme heat.
Strangely, the hotter the planet, the weaker its winds.
This could be our first real clue that magnetic activity shapes weather on distant worlds, changing how we think about alien atmospheres.