Astrolábos is tidally locked with its host star WASP-43b, meaning it’s just like our Moon and one side is permanently facing away from the light. It’s a hot, fast, wild world and new observations have discovered some even weirder things about this hot Jupiter.
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00:00 According to Murphy's Law, anything that can happen will happen, and on exoplanet Astrolabos,
00:08 that's on full display.
00:10 The planet is tidally locked with its host star WASP-43, meaning it's just like our
00:15 moon, and one side is permanently facing away from the light.
00:19 It's also a gas giant, but so far none of this is that wild.
00:22 However, new observations from the James Webb Space Telescope have revealed that both sides
00:26 of the gas giant are extreme.
00:29 The exoplanet orbits so close to its host star, a year on it only lasts 19.2 hours.
00:34 That means that the planet is hot, categorized as a hot Jupiter because of its gas giant
00:38 status.
00:39 But it gets even weirder.
00:40 The atmosphere on this extremely hot world isn't fluffy clouds like we have on Earth.
00:44 Experts say they're a bit rocky, with astronomer Laura Creedberg saying about it, quote, "We
00:49 see a complex, inhospitable world, with furious winds, massive temperature changes, and patchy
00:54 clouds likely made of rock droplets."
00:57 And just because one side is always facing away from its host star doesn't mean the
01:00 other side is much cooler.
01:02 The new James Webb readings revealed that while the sun-facing side is an inferno at
01:06 2,282 degrees Fahrenheit, the permanent dark side of this planet is still a scorching 1,112
01:14 degrees Fahrenheit.
01:15 [MUSIC PLAYING]