An illustration of exoplanet HD 80606 being roasted as its orbit approaches periastron, the point at which it is closest to its host star, which is similar to our Sun. (NASA/ESA/CSA/J. Olmsted (STScI) via SWNS)
By Dean Murray
Space scientists have revealed a planet getting “roasted” by extreme heat.
NASA said the latest observations have shown an exoplanet four times the mass of Jupiter sweeping close by its Sun-like star.
Researchers analyzing NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope‘s observations of HD 80606 b have released a study on the finding this week at the 248th meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Pasadena, California.
They believe an extremely elliptical orbit causes the planet to near its star, with Webb showing its temperature skyrocketing by 1,100 degrees Fahrenheit.
Tiffany Kataria, the study’s principal investigator at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said: “Hot Jupiters are already considered some of the most extreme exoplanets we know of, but even among that population, HD 80606 b is one of the most extreme.
(NASA/JPL-Caltech via SWNS)
By Talker
“We typically think of hot Jupiters as hot gas giants sitting right next to their stars, but this planet’s highly eccentric orbit creates a completely different beast.”
The planet had already been dubbed the “roasted exoplanet” and even got its own poster in NASA’s popular series.
NASA’s now-retired Spitzer Space Telescope laid the groundwork for infrared observations of HD 80606 b, showing that more detailed spectroscopic data from Webb would be compelling.
Ryan Challener, co-author and research associate at the Cornell Center for Astrophysics and Planetary Science, said: “Spitzer did amazing work on this exoplanet, and now Webb is building on that legacy by enabling us to drill down to distinguish specific chemical signatures like methane and carbon dioxide, which is just amazing progress.
“There’s so much to learn from this one dataset here — we really are just getting started deciphering what Webb has to tell us.”
“Webb has shown that the planet’s increase in temperature was even more extreme than we anticipated based on Spitzer data,” adds Tiffany Kataria.