Belgian scientists discovered a unique planet with the density of cotton candy.

A unique giant exoplanet with a density similar to that of cotton candy was discovered by scientists from the University of Liege (Belgium) in collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (USA).

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This exoplanet, called WASP-193b, orbits the distant Sun-like star WASP-193, located 1.2 thousand light years from Earth, reports EurekAlert.

WASP-193b is 50% larger than Jupiter but seven times less massive, making it the second least intact planet of the more than 5,000 known to date.

The first place in this indicator is occupied by the Neptune-shaped exoplanet Kepler-51 d, discovered in 2014, whose mass is 7.6 Earth masses.

The density of WASP-193b is 0.059 g per cubic centimeter, while:

• Jupiter’s density is about 1.33 g per cubic centimeter;
• the density of the Earth is more significant 5.51 g per cubic centimeter;
• The density of cotton candy is about 0.05 g per cubic centimeter.

The planet is so light that it is difficult to imagine similar solid material, the researchers note. – The reason why it is close to cotton candy is because they are both made of air. The planet is, in fact, very fluffy.

Researchers suspect that WASP-193b is composed primarily of hydrogen and helium, like most other gas giants in our galaxy. However, in WASP-193b, these gases likely form an extremely bloated atmosphere, extending tens of thousands of kilometers further than Jupiter’s atmosphere.

How exactly a planet can inflate so much is a question that none of the existing theories of planet formation can yet answer, since WASP-193b is an exception in each of them. This, of course, requires a significant supply of energy deep in the bowels of the planet, but the details of the mechanism are not yet clear to scientists.

This extremely low density cannot be reproduced by standard models of gas giants, even under the unrealistic assumption that the planet does not have a core, the scientists note.

Source: EurekAlert

Source: Racurs

David

I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.