NGST 10b: Discovery of a Doomed Planet
Explanation:
This hot jupiter is doomed.
Hot jupiters are giant planets
like
Jupiter that orbit much closer to their parent stars than
Mercury
does to our
Sun.
But some
hot jupiters
are more extreme than others.
NGTS-10b,
illustrated generically, is the closest and fastest-orbiting giant planet yet
discovered, circling its home star in only 18 hours.
NGTS-10b is a little larger than
Jupiter,
but it orbits less than two times the diameter of its
parent star away from the starБs surface.
When
a planet orbits this close, it is expected to
spiral inward,
pulled down by
tidal forces
to be eventually ripped apart by the starБs gravity.
NGTS-10b,
discovered by researchers at the
University of Warwick, is named after the
ESOБs
Next Generation
Transit Survey,
which detected the imperiled planet when it passed in front of its star,
blocking some of the light.
Although the
violent demise of NGTS-10b will happen eventually, we don't yet know when.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
