Hot Jupiter, discovered in December 2007, turned out to be hottest at the wrong point where it should be according to existing models. Such an intriguing result is presented in a scientific article that a team of astronomers led by Lisa Dang from McGill University in Canada published in the journal Nature Astronomy.
Recall that hot Jupiters are large gas planets located very close to their star. Because of this, they heat up to enormous temperatures. Moreover, the gravity of the star turns the planet with one side to the luminary, similar to how the Moon is always turned to the Earth by one side. The temperature difference between the "day" and "night" sides reaches hundreds and even thousands of degrees.
Where is the hottest point on the surface? It is natural to assume that "directly under the star", where heating occurs by direct rays. In fact, powerful winds often move this point eastward.
But the world of CoRoT-2b, located 930 light years from Earth, has been a surprise for astronomers. Opened ten years ago, all this time it has been intriguing specialists with two features: an unusual spectrum and the fact that it is greatly inflated even by the standards of hot Jupiters. However, recent observations by the Spitzer Space Infrared Telescope have brought quite incredible information.
It turned out that the hottest spot on the planet is shifted from the "sunflower spot" not to the east, but to the west. And by a very serious amount: 23 ± 4 degrees.
“We have previously studied nine other hot Jupiters - giant planets orbiting very close to their stars. In each case, they had winds blowing eastward, as predicted by the theory, - quoted by the press release as the words of co-author Nicolas Cowan (Nicolas Cowan).
There is no satisfactory explanation for this result. Scientists have several versions, but almost all of them break existing models.
First, it is possible that the planet is still not turned to the star on one side. Let us recall that such a configuration arises when the planet's “day” is equal to its “year”, and this equality is inevitably achieved for sufficiently close planets due to tidal forces.
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The unusual location of the hottest spot can be explained by assuming that the planet's “day” lasts longer than a “year”. By the way, this would help explain the abnormally large radius of the planet.
However, in this case, scientists find themselves in a classic situation when one of the vegetables is not sweeter than the other. Such a strange rotation cannot be explained based on existing models of the gravitational interaction of the planet and a star close to it.
It is possible that the whole thing is in the unusual pattern of the clouds. By the way, the strange spectrum of the planet in this case becomes clear. But this breaks down the notion of atmospheric circulation on hot Jupiters.
Perhaps the only hypothesis that is more or less within the framework of existing theories suggests that the planet has a powerful magnetic field. The effect of this field on the wind pattern could explain the strange shift of the "hot spot" to the west. In this case, scientists have a rare opportunity to study the magnetic field of an exoplanet.
However, as usual, there is not enough data for final conclusions. Astronomers hope for the near launch of the Jace Webb telescope, which, among other mysteries, will have to solve this one.
Anatoly Glyantsev
