Planet Hotter Than Most Stars

[Nicholas Kang]

NASA: Astronomers Find Planet Hotter Than Most Stars

BBC News Article: http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-40171936

Nature Journal Report: https://www.nature.com/articles/nat...cSaahk81C3y3w==&tracking_referrer=www.bbc.com

A newly discovered Jupiter-like world is so hot, it’s being vaporized by its own star.

With a dayside temperature of more than 7,800 degrees Fahrenheit (4,600 Kelvin), KELT-9b is a planet that is hotter than most stars. But its blue A-type star, called KELT-9, is even hotter -- in fact, it is probably unraveling the planet through evaporation.

KELT-9b is 2.8 times more massive than Jupiter, but only half as dense. Scientists would expect the planet to have a smaller radius, but the extreme radiation from its host star has caused the planet's atmosphere to puff up like a balloon.

Because the planet is tidally locked to its star -- as the moon is to Earth -- one side of the planet is always facing toward the star, and one side is in perpetual darkness. Molecules such as water, carbon dioxide and methane can’t form on the dayside because it is bombarded by too much ultraviolet radiation. The properties of the nightside are still mysterious -- molecules may be able to form there, but probably only temporarily.

The planet is also unusual in that it orbits perpendicular to the spin axis of the star. That would be analogous to the planet orbiting perpendicular to the plane of our solar system. One "year" on this planet is less than two days.

However, KELT-9b is nowhere close to habitable.

 

[jedidia]

So... hottest planet, or largest comet?

 

[boogabooga]

So... hottest planet, or largest comet?

Why not both?

 

[Andy44]

It's amazing that they can tell the planet is tidally locked from so far away. It wasn't that long ago that they couldn't even detect extra-solar planets.

Why not both?

....I'll see myself out....

 

[Notebook]

I'll get my coat..