NASA's Webb Telescope spots swirling, gritty clouds on remote planet

Researchers observing with NASA's James Webb Space Telescope have pinpointed silicate cloud features in a distant planet's atmosphere, according to the agency.

Cataloged as VHS 1256 b, the planet is about 40 light-years away and orbits two stars over a 10,000-year period, NASA said on Wednesday.

The atmosphere of the planet is constantly rising, mixing, and moving during its 22-hour day, bringing hotter material up and pushing colder material down, said NASA.

The research team, led by Brittany Miles of the University of Arizona, also made clear detections of water, methane and carbon monoxide with Webb's data, and found evidence of carbon dioxide.

This is the largest number of molecules ever identified all at once on a planet outside the solar system, according to NASA.