NASA's Kepler Space Telescope is observing distant planets for a long time and their weather patterns and behavior. Scientists from Great Britain and Canada are analyzing the obtained data in order to forecast the weather conditions on these planets.
During the data collection process, phase variation was observed at different parts of these planets, which reflected light from their host stars. This is similar to the moon's cycles, which go through their own individual phases, according to The Tech Times.
The weather on these exoplanets is measured when the scientists determine the changes which are shown in the planets while circling their host stars. This can be interpreted as measuring the day-night cycle of these dwarf planets, according to The News Informer.
When these exoplanets orbit around their host stars, the scientists determine the amount of light which is reflected back. This, in turn helps them to identify the day and night cycles of these planets.
Thus, they can forecast the weather of these exoplanets; like they did recently. The scientists recently predicted that four of the exoplanets will be sporting cloudy weather while two of the exoplanets will sport clear and hot afternoons. The predictions are based solely on the rotation of the planets and the eastward motion of their atmospheric winds.
The Kepler telescope proved to be an ideal instrument to study the phase variations for these distant exoplanets. All the bulk data and recording could not be possible without this super-efficient tool.