Scientists scan a mysterious planet as it moves through space

It is believed that the unevenness of the condition of each cloud layer is the reason why the brightness of SIMP 0136 changes as it rotates. It is easy to understand if you think of Jupiter, which, as a gas giant planet, probably has a similar structure and chemical composition.

Or for another way to imagine this, try to imagine the surface of the Earth, says Philip Mirhead of Boston University, co -author of New paper Outline these findings for Simp 0136. “As the Earth rotates, when the ocean appears, you will observe stronger blue colors and when you observe stronger brown or green colors, this means that continents, forest areas and more.

Aurora image observed on Jupiter, which may have a similar composition on SIMP 0136.

Photo: NASA/ESA/J. Nichols (University of Leicester); Recognition: A. Simon (NASA/GSFC)/OPAL team

In addition, the infrared light shown by the blue lines of the figure above comes from a high layer of the atmosphere of SIMP 0136, far above its cloud layers.

It is believed that the brightness of SIMP 0136, caused by these differences in infrared radiation, changes as it rotates, because the temperature similar to the composition of the cloud varies from place to place on the planet. In addition, the researchers noticed hot spots where the infrared light on the planet was particularly bright. They believe that they can be caused by Auroras, the existence of which has already been confirmed by the observations of the radio wave.

However, it is difficult to explain any changes in infrared brightness only by changing cloud and temperature. For this reason, the research team argues that there may be areas in the atmosphere of SIMP 0136 in which carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide are concentrated, and that these areas can also affect infrared brightness as the planet rotates.

This story originally appeared on Cable Japan And it was translated from Japanese.