Scientists have found a planet that is said to be five times bigger than Jupiter and orbits very close to its star that its daytime heat shreds molecules apart into atoms. This makes it one of the most metal planets to ever exist.
The planet named TOI-2109b, as per the paper published in The Astronomical Journal recently that details the findings of the scientists. It is believed to be an “ultrahot Jupiter,” and has surface temperatures over 3,500 degrees Fahrenheit.
A year lasts just 16 hours
As for TOI-2109b itself, the planet can reach daytime surface temperatures of around 6,000 degrees Fahrenheit and completes an orbit of its star in just 16 hours – one of the shortest for a planet ever recorded, as per an MIT press release.
The planet was discovered in May last year with the help of NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). Scientists observed the planet for over a year using observatories on Earth and were able to confirm the existence of the planet. “Everything was consistent with it being a planet, and we realized we had something very interesting and relatively rare,” Avi Shporer, co-author of the study, said in the release.
Observations showed that the planet had several extreme anomalies. For one, it gets so hot that the present molecules are ripped apart, and combine back at nighttime. The planet is also spiraling towards its star relatively fast when compared to other hot planets.
James Webb telescope to offer new opportunities
Scientists now hope that the upcoming James Webb Space Telescope will enable them to study the planet as its gets even closer to its star. In their research, the team says that it’ll provide them a great opportunity to learn about the “nature of planets at their most extreme.”
Recently, a group of scientists from the Physical Research Laboratory (PRL) in Ahmedabad, India found a super hot new exoplanet where one year lasts for a few days, as per the Indian Space Research Organization. The team found the planet orbiting a star that is almost 1.5 times the mass of our Sun and is 725 light-years away from Earth.
