Astronomers find biggest super-puff planets yet that are lighter than cotton candy
The rare pair has densities lower than cotton candy and a 5:3 orbital resonance, offering a test case for how super-puff planets form and evolve.
- 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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136 Articles
Two ‘Super-Puff’ Planets Lighter Than Candy Candy Discovered by Researchers
Two ‘super-puff’ planets lighter than candy candy have been discovered by scientists—and they’re bigger than Jupiter. They are among the lowest-density giant planets ever detected, according to a new study. The two planets orbit a dwarf star located around 1,110 light years from Earth in the southern constellation of Volans. Although both planets—named TOI-791b and […] The post Two ‘Super-Puff’ Planets Lighter Than Candy Candy Discovered by Rese…
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op-online.deMean density of about 0.04 grams per cubic centimeter. Different explanations for the phenomenon.
saarbruecker-zeitung.de
This discovery amazes astronomers: two giant planets have a lower density than cotton candy. Researchers have various possible explanations for this.
If we could find a scale large enough to weigh Jupiter, it would mark about 1.9 × 1027 kilograms. It is the giant of the solar system, a sphere of hydrogen and helium so dense that, although it is formed almost entirely by gases, its average density reaches 1.33 grams per cubic centimeter, four times less than the Earth, because we inhabit a rocky planet. Now let us imagine a planet practically the same size as Jupiter... but thirty times lighte…
Astronomers found two rare super puff planets lighter than cotton candy
Two newly confirmed "super-puff" planets are so diffuse that they are less dense than cotton candy, despite being about the size of Jupiter. Their rare orbital relationship and enormous, lightweight atmospheres could provide valuable clues about how some of the strangest planets in the galaxy come to exist.
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