Scientists at the University of Montreal have compiled a temperature map for hot Jupiter exoplanet WASP-18 b based on data from the James Webb Space Telescope. A temperature anomaly was discovered, which has not yet been explained. This is reported in an article published in the journal Nature.

WASP-18 b is about 400 light-years from Earth. This exoplanet is 10 times more massive than Jupiter, and it takes only 23 hours to complete one revolution around the star. As a result of tidal capture, the planet always faces the star with the same side, which is why its daytime hemisphere heats up by 1000 degrees compared to the terminator line - the border between the day and night sides.

A team of astronomers observed WASP-18 b for about six hours using one of the Webb Telescope's instruments, the Near Infrared Imaging and Slitless Spectrograph (NIRISS). It turned out that the composition of WASP-18 b is very similar to the composition of its parent star, which means that it most likely formed from the residual gas that was present immediately after the birth of the star.

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Scientists have compiled a temperature map of the day side and identified water vapor in the exoplanet's atmosphere. Because temperatures are much cooler around the terminator, scientists speculate that some factor is preventing the winds from effectively distributing heat to the night side. The reason for this remains a mystery for now, although one possible explanation is that the magnetic field causes winds to blow from the equator to the north and south poles, rather than from east to west.

The spectrum of the planet's atmosphere indicates the existence of many small bodies of water, despite extreme temperatures of almost 2700 degrees Celsius. In such a hot atmosphere, most of the water molecules would dissociate, so the discovery speaks to Webb's extraordinary sensitivity to detecting water vapor in different layers of the gaseous envelope.