Extremely ‘deformed’ Jupiter-like alien world doomed as experts warn of tragic end
AN ALIEN world is officially doomed as scientists reveal exactly how and when the planet will be completely destroyed.
The Jupiter-like WASP-12b is about to meet a tragic end – and is already ‘distorted’ as it awaits its fate.
It is what is known as a “hot Jupiter”, orbiting extremely close to its sun.
Scientists previously thought the planet would eventually collide with its star in ten million years, but new research suggests this will happen in just three million years instead.
The planet is already distorted and “torn apart” because it is so close to its star.
“The star’s scorching heat slowly dissipates and devours the planet’s atmosphere,” NASA explained.
“A colossal monster of a star steals pieces of its nearby planet, WASP-12b, to assemble itself into the ultimate Frankenstein creation.
‘The extreme gravity stretches the hot gas giant in the shape of an egg, while slowly cannibalizing the planet.
“Relatively soon this planet will be completely devoured by its hungry star.”
DEAD STAR
The exoplanet (a planet outside our solar system) was discovered in 2008.
It is about 1.5 times the mass of Jupiter and 1.9 times larger.
And a year on the planet is transient, with WASP-12b taking just over a day to orbit its star.
This gas giant was discovered using the ‘transit’ method, in which scientists detect a weakening of a star’s light as the planet passes in front of it.
Now scientists have measured the planet’s ‘orbital decay’, showing it will fall into its star in just three million years.
“WASP-12b is a very extreme planet,” said study author Pietro Leonardi of the University of Trento, speaking to Universe Today.
‘It is indeed part of the subcategory called ultra-hot Jupiters. The planet is very close to its parent star, orbiting it in just 1.09 days and has a surface temperature of 2600 K (4220F/2300C).
“Because of its extreme proximity to its host star, the planet feels a strong gravitational pull that strips part of its atmosphere of heavy metals, creating a disk around the star.”
This study was published in arXiv.
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What is an exoplanet?
This is what you need to know…
- An exoplanet is a planet outside our solar system that orbits its own star, just as Earth orbits the sun
- They are very difficult to see with telescopes because they are often hidden by the brightness of their star
- NASA sent the Kepler Space Telescope into space with the aim of finding Earth-sized exoplanets that could potentially support life
- More than 5,500 exoplanets have been discovered to date and more missions are planned to find even more exoplanets
- A good way to spot an exoplanet is to look for “wobbly” stars, because a disturbance in starlight can indicate that a planet is orbiting it, occasionally blocking light.
- Exoplanets are common in the universe and the more we discover that they are similar to Earth, the closer we come to knowing that we are not alone there.