Astronomers have discovered a giant planet out of "foam"
Source:
Astronomers have discovered a giant exoplanet is larger than Jupiter, but has extremely low for this class of planets mass. But first and foremost interest to the object's composition, density similar to Styrofoam, which allowed him even jokingly nicknamed "fluffy planet."
The team that identifies the KELT-11b (the so-called planet), whose orbit is located about 320 light years from Earth, says that this "unusual" world is the third in density among the planets, which was exactly fitted their mass and radius. And this on all sides the strange sphere could tell us more about how appear and develop such unusual exoplanets.
"She is very inflated. Having only 1/5 the mass of Jupiter, she's almost 40% more, making it a density similar to a giant foam, covered with a dense atmosphere," — says astronomer Joshua pepper Lyaskovo from the University of Pennsylvania.
In Addition to the unusual density, the planet KELT-11b distinguished by the fact that wraps around sviryanki star KELT-11, which is in the process of transition to a red giant. This may indicate that in the framework of the fusion process the star began to burn hydrogen outside its core. Scientists say that for about the next 100 million years the outer layers of the atmosphere of the star KELT-11 will expand, and eventually star fully engulf the planet KELT-11b. Absorption will not take much time, since the planet is very close to the star. Complete revolution around its sun exoplanet makes less than 5 earth days.
But before his death, this "world of foam", thanks to the brightness of the star KELT-11, can tell scientists about the composition of its atmosphere. Astronomers say that the star of this system is the brightest in the sky of the southern hemisphere among famous stars, who thanks to the transit search, was discovered on the planet.
The Transit method of finding new exoplanets is one of the most popular among astronomers. Thanks to the passage of the planet between the star and our telescopes decreases the brightness of the observed stars. This indicates to scientists that in front of the star at this point might be exoplanet. However, in the case sviryanki star KELT-11 the decrease of the luminosity by the passage of the planet is so insignificant that astronomers did not immediately able to confirm the presence of planets with KELT (Kilodegree Extremely Little Telescope) – two robotic telescopes working in unison and in Arizona and South Africa.
"Open it was quite difficult. The original observation of the star with KELT showed only a slight change in the curve on the graph", — shared pepper website Phys.org last year, when astronomers first announced their discovery and were expecting critical analysis in their research.
"because the transit trip has had so little impact (level of brightness of the stars has fallen below 0.3 per cent), getting tested and fully validated data in the framework of the observations was difficult."
However, the new observations were able to confirm the existence of exoplanets KELT-11b in the system, and now the parameters of the luminosity of stars, which initially made it difficult to scientists to prove its existence, can be used to determine its atmosphere. Due to this data, the researchers plan to find out why this "tenoplasty" the world is so inflated in size. It is almost two times more than you might expect, given its mass and distance to the star.
"I think that KELT-11b offers us a great chance to better understand the mechanisms that result in the planet so swell", — said pepper.
"in addition, because the star system is in its transitional state, on the basis of these data we plan to better understand the behavior of planetary systems, whose lights are at the end of its life cycle".
Recommended
Can genes create the perfect diet for you?
Diet on genotype can be a way out for many, but it still has a lot of questions Don't know what to do to lose weight? DNA tests promise to help you with this. They will be able to develop the most individual diet, because for this they will use the m...
How many extraterrestrial civilizations can exist nearby?
If aliens exist, why don't we "hear" them? In the 12th episode of Cosmos, which aired on December 14, 1980, co-author and host Carl Sagan introduced viewers to the same equation of astronomer Frank Drake. Using it, he calculated the potential number ...
Why does the most poisonous plant in the world cause severe pain?
The pain caused to humans by the Gimpi-gympie plant can drive him crazy Many people consider Australia a very dangerous place full of poisonous creatures. And this is a perfectly correct idea, because this continent literally wants to kill everyone w...
Related News
Presents "heart on a chip" to develop and test drugs
large-scale clinical studies of new drugs, as a rule, are accompanied by a host of difficulties. And even after passing the laboratory tests and animal experiments, human trials do not guarantee 100% safety for the volunteers. To ...
China will start developing mimicking the brain AI
the First artificial intelligence lab, which will simulate the human brain, has opened in Anhui province, — China Daily, citing the press service of the Chinese University of science and technology. In developing the partic...
Study: a supernova Explosion dangerous to all living things within a radius of 50 light years
If people could look at the sky, about 2 million years ago, he would witness a fantastic spectacle – the incredible beauty of the death star. Scientists have long debated the topic of how close must be the supernova, to be able to...
SpaceX can send to Mars two spacecraft
Future flight to Mars is fraught with great risk, therefore, to prepare such a complex mission was not easy, even for SpaceX. Initially, the company planned to send a spacecraft to Mars next, 2018, but later postponed dates to be ...
With antibiotics was able to block the ability of cancer cells to obtain energy
according to the news Agency TASS, a group of researchers from Russia, Spain and the Czech Republic with antibiotics were able to block the mitochondria of cancer cells, as well as starting the process of inhibition of autophagy a...
Gravitational waves: the key to unlocking new dimensions?
If we want to find extra dimensions in our Universe, that is, the existence of what we are trying to explain the so-called string Theory, we should turn our attention to gravitational waves. Because they may be the key to their di...
Chinese scientists ran a simulation of life on the moon
the News Agency «Xinhua» reports that Chinese scientists started the experiment, in which volunteers will live in conditions as close to the moon. The first four volunteers, two men and two women, have now begun to live ...
If permafrost will continue to decline, can "awaken" the ancient virus
Scholars, more than a dozen years working in the Arctic circle, they say that the melting of eternal ice can bring far more problems than previously thought. Under the impenetrable layer of Arctic ice can escape dozens of ancient ...
Found a way of turning natural gas in graphene
according to the Journal of Physical Chemistry C, American scientists have managed to develop a method of producing graphene out of ordinary acetylene. The new method is not only much simpler existence, but also significantly redu...
Created the first "chemical memory" in volume 1 bit
Sometimes the search for new ways of information storage makes scientists to discover hitherto unknown properties of familiar things. For example, we all know that «classic» storage unit of information is bit. In quantum...
NASA selects ideas for new space missions
Maybe most of the attention NASA now focused on Mars, however, space Agency has not forgotten about the rest of the Solar system. NASA is beginning a critical analysis and review of the 12 proposals it has received for the further...
Experimental spaceship, the U.S. air force landed after two years in orbit
the Official account of the U.S. air force reported that reusable orbital spacecraft X-37B OTV-4 successfully landed on the runway at Kennedy Space center. The U.S. air force said that X-37B OTV-4 was in space more than seven hund...
Psychologists: the Use of foul language makes you stronger
Professor of psychology Richard Stevens — one of those famous «British scientists», pleasing to humanity is an important and necessary discovery. He was awarded the IG Nobel prize for research on a Mat a few years ...
Stanford has developed a biodegradable and flexible electronic circuits
Soluble electronics can be useful in many different situations. It can help to create a subcutaneous medical implants, which after a course of treatment just disappear without any intervention. Trackers for studies of wildlife wou...
Oxford has created an artificial retina made of soft biomaterial
currently Existing implants is not as good as would like. Use the same for their production of solid materials are dangerous, because their properties are not the best way can affect the health of the patient. Therefore, researche...
A pill that replaces the gym, is closer to reality
the majority of people are very lazy which is easier to wrinkle her nose, looking at your kilos in the mirror than still decide to go to the gym and try to get in shape. Pharmaceutical corporations are well aware, it is not the fi...
The first manifestation of Parkinson's disease may be registered in the intestine!
the Fight against neurodegenerative diseases more effectively than before starting therapy of these diseases. The problem is that the identification of these diseases usually occurs at the stage of first symptoms of lesions of the...
Archaeologists were able to detect DNA of our ancestors in sedimentary rocks
During the excavations it is often possible to find pieces of dishes and other kitchen utensils, weapons and items of tableware, but the remains are not so simple. To find the whole skeleton or at least a sufficient number of frag...
Found a method of producing hydrogen fuel with a quantum efficiency above 100%
investigate the possibilities of reducing the dependence of human civilization from fossil fuels are in progress in several promising directions. Scientists in particular have focused their efforts on finding a more effective meth...
The holding company shvabe is developing a new generation of fiber
As stated by the press service of the state Corporation «rostec» holding «Schwabe» together with the specialists of Volga state University of telecommunications and Informatics (PHUTI) in the framework of enhan...
Comments (0)
This article has no comment, be the first!