“Two-faced” Janus and “Coconut”: what unusual planets have scientists discovered

An international team of astronomers has discovered a planet with the density of cotton candy. A giant “cotton wool planet” was found at a distance of 1232 light years from Earth. Scientists compare the find to a dandelion enlarged to planetary proportions.

What other unusual planets have scientists discovered? Where in the Universe is “Coconut” hiding? On what planet does a day last seven minutes? And who lives on the planet of sweet tooths? Talks about this program “Science and Technology” with Mikhail Borzenkov on REN TV.

“Marshmallow Planet”

A giant marshmallow – this is exactly what a planet with a sweet tooth might look like. In terms of density, this celestial body is just like an airy dessert, although it is not inferior in size to Jupiter. An international team of astronomers is perplexed as to how a planet could have formed near its parent star, a red dwarf.

“This star around which it formed is smaller than the Sun. And, most likely, it arose from a relatively small planetary nebula. And it was previously believed that such large planets should not form around such stars, because there is not enough matter there, and The nebula around the star does not exist long enough for the silicate core to catch gases from the nebula. But this planet, as you can see, exists.”, – noted a senior researcher at the Center for Laboratory Astrophysics of the Samara Branch of the Physical Institute named after. P. N. Lebedev RAS Ivan Antonov.

New Year’s Eve once every million years

An equally incredible discovery was made by astronomers at the University of Hawaii. They discovered a planet where time has stopped. “Coconut” is a planet on which there are catastrophically few reasons for celebration. If intelligent beings lived here, they would have to celebrate the New Year once every million earthly years. It is during this period that the gas giant makes a complete revolution around its star. The distance from Coconut to the red dwarf is six thousand times greater than from the Sun to Earth. This enormous distance gave scientists a unique opportunity to observe the celestial body directly through a telescope.

“Usually the parent star “illuminates” its planets, and one can guess about their existence only by indirect signs. But in this case, we were able to get a good look at the celestial body. It turned out that it is quite young and stores residual heat that arose during the formation stage. Therefore “, despite the record distance from its sun, the exoplanet does not have absolute cold, the temperature there is about plus 160 degrees.”said Michael Liu, an astronomer at the Institute of Astronomy at the University of Hawaii.

“Two-Faced” Janus

Seven minutes is exactly how long a day lasts on the incredible Janus. This distant planet (not to be confused with the moon of Saturn of the same name) was discovered by scientists at the California Institute of Technology last year. But astronomers were struck not by the frantic pace of rotation of the celestial body, but by the fact that it has two faces. This is the first time astronomers have observed such a picture. One side of the planet is made of hydrogen, and the other is made of helium. And surprisingly, they do not mix – a clear boundary is visible. In the past, this celestial body was the same star as our Sun, and after its extinction it turned into a white dwarf. The shells of these small but incredibly heavy objects usually consist of a single gas. So Janus, with his “two-facedness,” baffled scientists.

“There is a hypothesis that such a unique feature is associated with the asymmetric magnetic field of the white dwarf. Where it is stronger is the hydrogen side, where it is weaker is the helium side. In addition, the magnetic field can affect the pressure and density of atmospheric gases and, accordingly, the their distribution throughout the celestial body. In any case, our discovery is a new page in the study of the evolution of stars.”said Caltech astrophysicist Illaria Caiazzo.

Super-Earth-ocean

Our Sun will also turn into a white dwarf, having previously destroyed the Earth. The catastrophe will not happen soon – in five billion years, but astronomers are already looking for planets for a large migration of humanity. And it seems that in the constellation Draco, Canadian researchers managed to discover a suitable option – a Super-Earth-Ocean.

This is roughly what our planet looked like three billion years ago. Only on the rocky Super-Earth there is even more water. It covers the entire surface of the celestial body. The local climate is also great for people. The average temperature there is about plus 25 degrees. An international group of astrophysicists suggests that mysterious creatures may well live in the depths of the ocean. But there is enough space on the planet for everyone.

“The celestial body is almost five times larger than the Earth. True, the gravity there is much stronger. So it will be difficult for potential colonizers to move. And they will also have to get used to the frequent change of seasons. A year on Super-Earth is only 11 days.”said René Doyon, professor at the Department of Physics at the University of Montreal.

True, it will take 100 light years to fly to Super-Earth. So first you need to invent a super-fast spaceship.

The darkest planet

British astronomers at Keele University have discovered one of the darkest planets in the Universe. This hot gas giant from the constellation Leo absorbs 99% of light. The celestial body is located four million kilometers from its sun – by cosmic standards this is very close. It would seem that with such a neighbor the planet should shine. What’s wrong with her?

“One side of the dark planet is constantly facing the star, there is daylight all the time. And on the opposite hemisphere there is eternal night. But it is equally dark everywhere. This may be due precisely to the close distance from the parent star. Its powerful radiation prevents the formation of clouds, which usually reflect light. In addition, the giant’s atmosphere is incredibly dense; sodium and potassium atoms are present there in large quantities. They also absorb a significant part of the spectrum.”explained the director of Keele University, Jacco van Loon.

Planet with three suns

German scientists from the European Southern Observatory have found in the constellation Orion the first planet in the Universe with three suns at once. Two luminaries revolve around each other, another one – the main one – “guards” the younger sisters, following a wide ellipse. Like all young stars, the triple system is surrounded by a disk of gas and dust. But its shape is completely atypical – as if someone was trying to cut the cloud with giant space scissors.

“The outer part of the disk is inclined at about 40 degrees relative to the inner one. What is in this gap cannot be seen through a telescope. But after building a computer model, scientists realized that a massive exoplanet similar to Jupiter is growing there. If it is true exists, this is incredible. After all, even in the pair system that we have already encountered, both luminaries constantly interact with each other. It is not easy for a planet to form three suns at once.”– Xavier Barcons, Director General of the European Southern Observatory, shared the details.

How eight exoplanets were found in Russia at once

Russian astronomers also made a real breakthrough in science. Scientists at the Special Observatory of the Academy of Sciences in Karachay-Cherkessia managed to immediately discover eight tailed and iridescent candidates for the title of exoplanets. The first discovery of this magnitude in Russian history was made possible by a compact telescope.

“Our 50-centimeter telescope is a mirror telescope. That is, there are no lenses, only mirrors.”says Vitaly Aitov, a researcher at the Special Astrophysical Observatory of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

Over the past few years, several such robotic telescopes have been built in Nizhny Arkhyz. The device will automatically aim at the desired object and send the observation results to the computer. Scientists are most interested in so-called transits – this is the moment when a planet passes across the disk of its star. Something like a solar eclipse, when the Moon almost completely blocks the luminary from us. Based on these indirect signs, it was possible to detect distant gas giants.

“To understand that this is really an exoplanet, we need to record several transits in a row. The first field we looked at, we looked at for about three months. Naturally, we got a lot of light curves for all 30 thousand stars that we were able to measure. And there have already looked for these periodic transit events”explained Aitov.

The Cosmic Eight is very similar to Jupiter – only bigger, much hotter and more beautiful. Planets that are closest to their parent star evaporate. Because of this, a stunning rainbow disc and long, spectacular tails are formed around them.

Now scientists have to measure the mass and trajectory of the detected objects. And if it is confirmed that these are indeed planets, and not small stars, come up with names for them. So, distant star systems may soon have their own “Arkhyz” or “Dombay”.

About the most incredible achievements of progress, discoveries of scientists, innovations that can change the future of humanity, watch the program “Science and Technology” with host Mikhail Borzenkov on REN TV.