Atmospheric winds may corrupt exoplanet rotation measurements

A new study warns that astronomers measuring exoplanet rotation may actually be measuring atmospheric wind speeds rather than the planet's true spin. On Venus, clouds circle the planet roughly 60 times faster than its actual rotation. Researcher Kane proposes multi-wavelength observations as a fix. The findings will be critical once ESA's PLATO mission launches in 2027 and is expected to discover hundreds of Venus-like exoplanets.

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