Astronomers, for the first time, have been able to measure the rotation of an exoplanet which spins around its axis so fast that a day lasts only 8 hours. This is much quicker than any planet in the Solar System – its equator is moving at almost 100,000 kilometres per hour.
The exolplanet, namely, Beta Pictoris b, is a very young gas giant that orbits the star Beta Pictoris, which is located 63 light years from Earth – and is approximately twice as massive and 10 times as luminous as our Sun.
Using the Doppler effect, scientists were able to measure how fast the exoplanet spins.
Further, the astronomers used high-dispersion spectroscopy to study different wavelengths and colours emitted by the exoplanet.
