Overcast morning, scorching afternoon is daily forecast for alien planets

Weather on Earth is way better that on some alien worlds, because as per a new report, there the daily forecast is cloudy, overcast skies in the morning and scorching heat in the afternoon.

A team of international astronomers has uncovered evidence of daily weather cycles on six extra-solar planets using sensitive observations from the Kepler space telescope.

Lead author Lisa Esteves of University of Toronto said that despite the discovery of thousands of extra-solar planets, what these far-off worlds look like is still shrouded in mystery.

The team analyzed all 14 Kepler planets known to exhibit phase variations, and found indications of cloudy mornings on four and hot, clear afternoons on two others.

Most of the worlds examined in the study were very hot and large, with temperatures greater than 1,600 degrees Celsius and sizes comparable to Jupiter. These conditions are far from hospitable to life, but excellent for phase measurements, the authors note.

York University's Ray Jayawardhana added that they are getting to know these exotic alien planets as dynamic, three-dimensional worlds through remote sensing across vast distances. Someday soon they hope to provide similar weather reports for worlds not much bigger than the Earth.

For the study, the researchers determined weather on these alien worlds by measuring phase changes as the planets circle their host stars. Similar to the Moon in the solar system, an exoplanet going through a cycle of phases can be traced, from fully lit to completely dark, when different portions of the planet are illuminated by its star.

The study is published in the Astrophysical Journal.