MIT astronomers and other researchers from various universities have made a sweet and delightful discovery within our Milky Way galaxy. They have identified an exoplanet named WASP-193 b that is as airy and lightweight as cotton candy.
This celestial oddity presents an exciting challenge to existing theories about planetary formation. WASP-193 b boasts a staggering size, dwarfing Jupiter yet weighing only a fraction of its mass.
It is about 50 percent larger than Jupiter but possesses a strikingly low density, akin to cotton candy.
A Cotton Candy Exoplanet
The discovery team, including researchers from MIT and the University of Liège in Belgium, highlights the rarity of finding such giant objects with such low density.
Lead study author Khalid Barkaoui from MIT describes this exoplanet as an extreme example of the class of "puffy Jupiters," which poses a significant puzzle for astronomers.
The discovery of WASP-193 b was facilitated by the Wide Angle Search for Planets (WASP), a collaboration of international academic institutions operating robotic observatories.
This exoplanet, located 1,232 light years from Earth, orbits a sun-like star named WASP-193 and exhibits periodic transits that indicate its presence.
Despite its enormous size, pinpointing the planet's mass proved challenging due to its exceptionally low density. Traditional methods like radial velocity, which rely on the planet's gravitational pull on its star, were insufficient to detect WASP-193 b's mass because of its minimal gravitational influence.
The research team invested significant effort over four years to confirm the planet's mass, revealing that it is only about 0.14 times that of Jupiter. Moreover, WASP-193 b's density is approximately 0.059 grams per cubic centimeter, far lower than any known planet in our solar system.
A Massive Yet Lightweight Planet
According to the researchers, WASP-193 b's fluffiness is attributed to its composition, which is likely dominated by hydrogen and helium gases similar to those of other gas giants.
However, this planet's expansive atmosphere extends tens of thousands of kilometers beyond Jupiter's atmosphere, underscoring its unique and inflated nature.
The discovery of WASP-193 b challenges conventional planetary formation models, leaving astronomers puzzled about how such a massive yet lightweight planet could evolve. MIT postdoc Francisco Pozuelos emphasizes the difficulty in explaining the formation of this outlier planet using current theoretical frameworks.
MIT researchers plan to leverage advanced techniques, including atmospheric analysis, to study WASP-193 b's unique properties further. Observatories like the James Webb Space Telescope will also play a crucial role in unraveling the mysteries surrounding puffy Jupiters.
"The bigger a planet's atmosphere, the more light can go through," Julien de Wit, an assistant professor in MIT's Department of Earth," said in an official statement.
"So it's clear that this planet is one of the best targets we have for studying atmospheric effects. It will be a Rosetta Stone to try and resolve the mystery of puffy Jupiters."
The findings of the study were published in the journal Nature Astronomy.
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