A Potato-Shaped Exoplanet Discovered About 1500 Light Years Away from Earth: Study
New Delhi: Astronomers discovered a potato-shaped exoplanet WASP-103b. The study is published in Astronomy and Astrophysics journal.
The astronomers had initially witnessed the unusually shaped planet in 2014. The exoplanet lies 1800 light-years away from our Solar System and 1500 light-years away from the Earth.
“WASP-103b is the exoplanet with the highest expected deformation signature in its transit light curve and one of the shortest expected spiral-in times,” the study said.
The exoplanet is located very close to its star WASP-103, nearly 50 times closer than the distance between the Sun and the Earth. One cycle of the planet takes 22 hours compared to 365 days of the Earth.
According to the study, “Measuring the tidal deformation of the planet would allow estimation of second-degree fluid Love number and help gain insights into the internal structure of WASP-103. The Love number shows WASP-103b is similar to Jupiter.”
“This will allow constraining the internal structure and composition of WASP-103b, which could provide clues on the inflation of hot Jupiters,” it added.
Susanna Barros, Astrophysicist at the University of Porto, Portugal, said, “If this planet is 1.5 times more massive than Jupiter, then its radius is twice as large. WASP-103b will be very puffy because of the hotness of its star along with other mechanisms.”
(Avya Mathur)
