Astronomers create first 3D map of a hellish alien planet's atmosphere

The big picture: Nearly 6,000 exoplanets have now been confirmed in the vast expanse of the Milky Way galaxy. Some are believed to have the potential to harbor life, while others are so hostile that they make Venus seem mild by comparison. One such planet is the ultra-hot Jupiter known as WASP-121b, nicknamed Tylos – a world so extreme it defies expectations. Located around 900 light-years away in the Puppis constellation, Tylos orbits its parent star at an absurdly close distance, completing a full "year" in just 30 hours. With one side perpetually scorched and the other locked in eternal darkness, you'd expect extreme weather – but new observations suggest its climate is even stranger than we imagined. For the first time, astronomers have mapped the 3D structure of Tylos' layered atmosphere using the European Southern Observatory's spectroscopic instrument, ESPRESSO. This powerful tool combines light from the four largest Very Large Telescopes (VLTs) into a single, highly detailed ... Read full article.