Astronomers find biggest super-puff planets yet that are lighter than cotton candy
The rare pair, TOI-791 b and TOI-791 c, are the lightest known planets of their size and may help explain giant planet formation.
- On Wednesday, astronomers reported discovering two "super-puff" planets, TOI-791 b and TOI-791 c, in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. These Jupiter-sized worlds are lighter than cotton candy.
- Situated approximately 1,110 light-years away in the constellation Volans, TOI-791 b and TOI-791 c possess densities of just 0.022 and 0.027 ounces per cubic inch, respectively—far lighter than Jupiter's 0.76 ounces per cubic inch.
- Volunteers combing through NASA TESS data flagged the pair, which orbit their star in a rare 5:3 mean-motion resonance where the inner planet orbits five times for every three orbits of the outer planet.
- "Only a handful of these super-puffy planets are known, and it is even rarer to find two in the same system," said lead author George Dransfield of Oxford University. Their low densities offer unique insights into planetary evolution.
- Scientists plan to continue analyzing the system, potentially utilizing the James Webb Space Telescope to determine the chemical makeup and atmospheric conditions of these distant worlds.
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The two planets, designated by TOI-791 b and TOI-791 c, orbit an F7-type dwarf star approximately 1,110 light-years from Earth in the southern constellation of Volans.
Two 'super-puff' cotton candy exoplanets are the lightest gas giants ever discovered
What is rarer than discovering a "super-puff" planet with densities much (much) lower than those of the solar system gas giants? Discovering two orbiting the same star.That is exactly what astronomers have done, finding two extrasolar planets, or exoplanets, that are super-puff siblings orbiting the same star. Both planets, designated TOI-791 b and TOI-791 c, have densities lower than that of cotton candy, making them the lightest exoplanets eve…
NASA’s TESS mission identified two of the least dense giant planets observed so far. These are TOI-791 b and TOI-791 c, two worlds the size of Jupiter orbiting a star similar to the Sun, located about 1,113 light years from Earth, and whose structure places them among the so-called “super-puff”, a group of planets with highly inflated atmospheres and extraordinarily low densities. The finding was published in the journal Monthly Notices of the R…
Scientists say they pose a puzzle in understanding the formation of planetary systems
How can a giant planet be lighter than cotton candy? Scientists just found two
A groundbreaking super-puff planet discovery has revealed two giant exoplanets with densities below cotton candy, changing how scientists understand alien worlds. These Jupiter-sized planets show that planet formation, planetary atmospheres, and distant space systems can behave in unexpected ways. The rare finding gives astronomers new clues about how planets grow, evolve, and survive across the universe.
Astronomers at Oxford University have investigated two unusual exoplanets, both huge – and extremely light at the same time.
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