Two iconic space telescopes have shed light on why a planet orbiting another star is „puffy”.
The exoplanet, called WASP-107 b, is massive and gas-rich. But, it is strange. According to The body has about 80 percent of Jupiter’s size but less than 10 percent of its mass, NASA announced Monday.
Using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) and the Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers can study the elevated body of an exoplanet in a new way.
Why is it so swollen?
Astronomers can learn a lot about what exoplanets are made of without going there in person. To study the light coming from the surface of these exoplanets, scientists use a special technique called spectroscopy. „Different materials emit and interact with different wavelengths of light (colors) in different ways.” Explain JWST officials. Then, they interpret their compositions from this data. JWST and Hubble carry instruments to do just that.
Spectroscopy revealed that WASP 107-b has very little methane in its atmosphere. This tells astronomers that the exoplanet is hot. Methane is unstable at high temperatures.
It seemed to contradict another characteristic of this world. Despite orbiting so close to its star, described by a NASA announcement as „one-seventh the distance between Mercury and the Sun,” it receives very little heat from it. is a star Cool and small.
The second major discovery is that its core is much larger than previously estimated. Heavier elements are separated from lighter elements, so learning their ratio in WASP-107 b can reveal clues about the exoplanet’s mass and the size of its core.
New details about its core indicate that it closely resembles Neptune, in many respects, giving astronomers a relevant analog to better understand how it formed.
Hotter material expands while colder material contracts. The exoplanet’s incredible heat drives the bulge. Rather than receiving heat from the star’s radiation, astronomers suspect the exoplanet’s elliptical orbit is the culprit. It is sometimes closer to its parent star and sometimes farther away. „As the distance between the star and the planet continues to change over its 5.7-day orbit, the gravitational force also changes, stretching and heating the planet,” NASA said.
Now, one of the least dense exoplanets, located 210 light-years from Earth in the Virgo galaxy, is a little less mysterious thanks to the telescope’s creativity.