Scientists spot alien world ‘like something out of science fiction’

Sign up to our free weekly IndyTech newsletter delivered straight to your inbox Sign up to our free IndyTech newsletter Sign up to our free IndyTech newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Tylos is a gaseous, giant exoplanet located some 900 light-years away in the constellation Puppis “This planet’s atmosphere behaves in ways that challenge our understanding of how weather works – not just on Earth, but on all planets. It feels like something out of science fiction,” said Julia Victoria Seidel, a researcher at the European Southern Observatory in Chile and lead author of the study, in a statement. “What we found was surprising: a jet stream rotates material around the planet’s equator, while a separate flow at lower levels of the atmosphere moves gas from the hot side to the cooler side. “It’s truly mind-blowing that we’re able to study details like the chemical makeup and weather patterns of a planet at such a vast distance,” says Bibiana Prinoth, a PhD student at Lund University, Sweden, and ESO, who led a companion study.