Scientists were able to issue a weather forecast for a planet located outside our solar system for the first time ever thanks to its Hubble Space Telescope, according to a report by The Telegraph.
While using Hubble, the scientists found exoplanet GJ 1214b has "cloudy skies" and is overcast basically all of the time. Experts believe the planet will stay hot and cloudy for a while, but couldn't provide an estimate time period when its weather will change.
The planet is located approximately 40 light years away. It orbits a "red dwarf" star that helps raise its temperatures to 232C, according to NASA.
Astronomers have said the planet is covered by "high-altitude clouds" that computer simulations believe could be made up of zinc sulphide dust or potassium chloride.
"'I think it's very exciting that we can use a telescope like Hubble that was never designed with this in mind, do these kinds of observations with such exquisite precision, and really nail down some property of a small planet orbiting a distant star," said Dr. Jacob Bean, leader of the University of Chicago astronomers, according to The Telegraph.
Originally experts weren't sure if the planet had clear skies or not, but now they're comparing it to a planet in our own solar system: Venus.
Like Venus, the planet is both hot and has an overcast, making it hard to figure out what the planet's surface is like.
Hubble observed the planet for approximately 96 hours over the course of 11 months, which is easily the longest period of time a single telescope has observed one planet, according to NASA.
The scientist's study was published in Nature, where they talked about the findings as a key breakthrough towards identifying habitable Earth-like planets in other galaxies.
The planet was first discovered back in 2009 by MEearth Project, according to The Telegraph.
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