Simulations show that exoplanets heated at deeper depths by their host stars display markedly different weather patterns

For many years, most astrophysical models assumed that planets beyond our solar system, known as exoplanets, are heated at similar depths by their host stars (i.e., stars like the sun around which planetary systems are formed). Analyses of recent observations by several collaborations using different telescopes, however, suggest that some exoplanets could absorb heat much deeper into their atmosphere than originally thought. Such exoplanets could display a weather pattern very different than has been expected from past modeling.