Space.com contributing writer Stefanie Waldek is a self-taught space nerd and aviation geek who is passionate about all things spaceflight and astronomy.
What's the James Webb Space Telescope's favorite movie? Eternal sunshine of the exoplanet WASP-39 b, perhaps.. WASP-39 b is tidally locked to that star, which means the same side of the planet always faces its star. In other words, half of the planet experiences perpetual day, and the other experiences perpetual night.
Using data from the JWST's Near-Infrared Spectrograph, astronomers determined the temperature difference between these two transitional areas of the planet: a whopping 300 degrees Fahrenheit . The morning is cooler at 1,150 degrees Fahrenheit , while the evening is warmer at 1,450 degrees Fahrenheit .
What's more, models based on the JWST's data also revealed weather patterns in these regions. For one thing, the dawn side is cloudier than the evening side; for another, the prevailing winds on WASP-39 b appear to move from the night side, to the morning, to the day side, then to the evening — at speeds up to thousands of miles per hour.
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