2023-07-28 15:33:40
Outer space can always surprise us with something, but an exoplanet located 1,232 light-years away may be one of the strangest ever discovered. Dubbed WASP-193b, the planet is 50 percent larger than Jupiter but has the density of cotton candy. Exoplanets like it are extremely rare, however, according to astronomers, they can help us better understand the world around us. Learning regarding the planets not only contributes to the interpretation of our solar system, but also allows us to learn regarding the development of planetary systems. The aforementioned exoplanet orbits the sun-like star WASP-193. What’s even more interesting is that WASP-193b orbits the star much closer than the other planets in the Solar System, orbiting it once every 6.25 days. According to the researchers, the exoplanet’s radius is regarding 1.46 times that of Jupiter, but its mass is only 0.139 times that of Jupiter. Its density can be 0.059 g/cm³ (for comparison, the density of the Earth is 5.51 g/cm³). The star revolving around the cotton candy planet may be regarding 6 billion years old. The researchers believe that, unfortunately, the exoplanet’s properties and development cannot be reconstructed with sophisticated planetary evolution models. The good news is that WASP-193b is an excellent candidate for further investigation to find out what its atmosphere is made of (which is one of the tasks the James Webb Space Telescope was designed for, by the way). And further investigation may explain how such a strange, fluffy planet might exist in the universe. Our related articles:
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