Planet Temps Beyond Solar System Recorded

NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope in California made first-time surface measurements of day and night temperatures on a planet beyond the solar system.

Spitzer’s measurements are the first recordings of any kind taken that show variation in surface traits on a planet outside of the Earth’s solar system, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration said in a news release. Previously, measurements of so-called extrasolar planets reported only global traits such as size and mass.

Observations found that the Jupiter-like gas planet orbits close to its sun, remaining always hot on one side and cold on the other, the space agency said. Temperatures on the two sides of the planet varied by as much as 2,550 degrees Fahrenheit, NASA said.

This is a spectacular result, said Michael Werner, Spitzer project scientist at Pasadena, Calif. When we designed Spitzer years ago, we did not anticipate that it would be revolutionizing extrasolar-planet science.