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                           Astronomy Picture of the Day   
      
       Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our   
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                       written by a professional astronomer.   
      
                                    2024 May 3   
      
                        Temperatures on Exoplanet WASP-43b   
            Illustration Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, Ralf Crawford (STScI)   
        Science: Taylor Bell (BAERI), Joanna Barstow (The Open University),   
                      Michael Roman (University of Leicester)   
      
      Explanation: A mere 280 light-years from Earth, tidally locked,   
      Jupiter-sized exoplanet WASP-43b orbits its parent star once every 0.8   
      Earth days. That puts it about 2 million kilometers (less than 1/25th   
      the orbital distance of Mercury) from a small, cool sun. Still, on a   
      dayside always facing its parent star, temperatures approach a torrid   
      2,500 degrees F as measured at infrared wavelengths by the MIRI   
      instrument on board the James Webb Space Telescope. In this   
      illustration of the hot exoplanet's orbit, Webb measurements also show   
      nightside temperatures remain above 1,000 degrees F. That suggests that   
      strong equatorial winds circulate the dayside atmospheric gases to the   
      nightside before they can completely cool off. Exoplanet WASP-43b is   
      now formally known as Astrol+íbos, and its K-type parent star has been   
      christened Gnomon. Webb's infrared spectra indicate water vapor is   
      present on the nightside as well as the dayside of the planet,   
      providing information about cloud cover on Astrol+íbos.   
      
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          Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)   
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