The Jupiter-sized planet WASP-121 b is no place to call home. For starters, it orbits very close to a star that is brighter and hotter than the Sun. The planet is so dangerously close to its star that its upper atmosphere reaches a blazing 3,400 degrees Fahrenheit – hotter than a steel blast furnace.

A torrent of ultraviolet light from the host star is heating the planet's upper atmosphere, which is causing the magnesium and iron gas to escape into space. Powerful gravitational tidal forces from the star have altered the planet's shape so that it appears more football shaped. By combining several years of Hubble Space Telescope observations with computer modelling, astronomers have found evidence for massive cyclones swirling on the hellish planet. The cyclones are repeatedly created and destroyed due to the large temperature difference between the star-facing side and dark night-time side of the exoplanet.