{"id":63145,"date":"2024-09-03T06:41:22","date_gmt":"2024-09-03T06:41:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ab8a2998-b64d-476f-a512-07dcc1b73014"},"modified":"2024-09-03T07:39:44","modified_gmt":"2024-09-03T07:39:44","slug":"eccentric-planet-has-stretched-out-orbit-and-could-be-on-its-way-to-becoming-a-scorching-gas-giant","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/rss_feed\/eccentric-planet-has-stretched-out-orbit-and-could-be-on-its-way-to-becoming-a-scorching-gas-giant\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Eccentric’ planet has stretched-out orbit and could be on its way to becoming a scorching gas giant"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>

By Ezzy Pearson\n <\/p>

Published: Tuesday, 03 September 2024 at 06:41 AM<\/p>

\n\n

An \u2018eccentric\u2019 exoplanet has been found to have one of the most stretched-out orbits of any planet ever seen.<\/p>

It\u2019s thought the extreme orbit is the beginning stage of the planet\u2019s journey towards becoming a \u2018hot Jupiter\u2019, and could give new insight into how these planets form.\u00a0<\/p>

Artist’s impression of TIC 241249530 b, an exoplanet with an eccentric orbit that could be on its way to becoming a hot Jupiter. Credit: NOIRLab\/NSF\/AURA\/J. da Silva (Spaceengine)<\/figcaption><\/figure>
TIC 241249530 b and hot Jupiters explained <\/strong><\/h2>
Hot Jupiters<\/a> are gas giants much like our own Jupiter, but which orbit incredibly close to their stars.<\/p>
Our current understanding of planet formation suggests it\u2019s far too hot for planets to form in that location.<\/p>
Instead, the leading theory is that these worlds were born in more distant orbits and then migrated inwards at a later date.\u00a0<\/p>
$\"An$
An artist’s conception of a hot Jupiter. These are exoplanets similar to Jupiter in our own Solar System, but orbiting much closer to their host star. Credit: NASA\/Ames\/JPL-Caltech<\/figcaption><\/figure>
If this is the case, then it should be possible to detect exoplanets while they are undergoing this migration.<\/p>
One potential example is TIC 241249530 b, discovered by the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). The planet\u2019s orbit is highly elliptical, or eccentric<\/a>.<\/p>
At its closest, it approaches 10 times closer to its star than Mercury gets to our Sun, while at its furthest it\u2019s as far away as Earth\u2019s orbit<\/a>.<\/p>
$\"Diagram$
Diagram showing the orbit of exoplanet TIC 241249530 b, compared to the orbits of Earth and Mercury. Click to expand. Credit: NOIRLab\/NSF\/AURA\/J. da Silva (Spaceengine)<\/figcaption><\/figure>
In addition, the planet orbits the opposite way to its star\u2019s rotation. Almost every planet known, including all those in our own Solar System, orbits in the same direction as its star.<\/p>
The contrary motion of TIC 241249530 b could be a potential clue to why the planet began migrating in the first place.<\/p>
While another pre-migration planet, HD 20782 b, was previously known, that example was not transiting<\/a> its star.<\/p>
This new example does, allowing the team to gain more detailed measurements of its orbit and to potentially examine the planet\u2019s atmosphere to see how it is affected when it passes so close toits star.<\/p>
What next?<\/strong><\/h2>
Astronomers will now analyse the planet\u2019s motion to work out how it has changed over time and what it might do in the future.<\/p>
It\u2019s thought that the planet\u2019s orbit will become more circular over time, as tidal forces from the star\u2019s gravitational pull leach energy from the planet.<\/p>
“While we can\u2019t exactly press rewind and watch the process of planetary migration in real time, this exoplanet serves as a sort of snapshot of the migration process,” says Arvind Gupta from NOIRLab, who led the study.<\/p>
“Planets like this are incredibly rare and hard to find, and we hope it can help us unravel the hot Jupiter formation story.”<\/p>
**www.noirlab.edu\u00a0<\/a><\/strong><\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n**
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By Ezzy Pearson Published: Tuesday, 03 September 2024 at 06:41 AM An \u2018eccentric\u2019 exoplanet has been found to have one of the most stretched-out orbits of any planet ever seen. It\u2019s thought the extreme orbit is the beginning stage of the planet\u2019s journey towards becoming a \u2018hot Jupiter\u2019, and could give new insight into how […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":63146,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"3"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2024\/09\/eccentric-planet-has-stretched-out-orbit-and-could-be-on-its-way-to-becoming-a-scorching-gas-giant.jpg",1200,1200,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2024\/09\/eccentric-planet-has-stretched-out-orbit-and-could-be-on-its-way-to-becoming-a-scorching-gas-giant-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2024\/09\/eccentric-planet-has-stretched-out-orbit-and-could-be-on-its-way-to-becoming-a-scorching-gas-giant-300x300.jpg",300,300,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2024\/09\/eccentric-planet-has-stretched-out-orbit-and-could-be-on-its-way-to-becoming-a-scorching-gas-giant-768x768.jpg",768,768,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2024\/09\/eccentric-planet-has-stretched-out-orbit-and-could-be-on-its-way-to-becoming-a-scorching-gas-giant-1024x1024.jpg",800,800,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2024\/09\/eccentric-planet-has-stretched-out-orbit-and-could-be-on-its-way-to-becoming-a-scorching-gas-giant.jpg",1200,1200,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2024\/09\/eccentric-planet-has-stretched-out-orbit-and-could-be-on-its-way-to-becoming-a-scorching-gas-giant.jpg",1200,1200,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By Ezzy Pearson Published: Tuesday, 03 September 2024 at 06:41 AM An \u2018eccentric\u2019 exoplanet has been found to have one of the most stretched-out orbits of any planet ever seen. It\u2019s thought the extreme orbit is the beginning stage of the planet\u2019s journey towards becoming a \u2018hot Jupiter\u2019, and could give new insight into how…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/63145"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/63146"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63145"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63145"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}