14 DAY TRIAL // A recent paper in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics announces the discovery of a previously undocumented planet that astronomers say is about 50 shades of weird.
Its orbit is seriously bizarre and its shape and size are not what some would call mainstream either. What's more, it looks like winters on this celestial body are hot enough to deep fry a whole chicken in the blink of an eye.
How the planet was discovered
The peculiar celestial body, which now goes by the name Kepler-432b, was discovered by astronomers peering at the cosmos with the help of the Nordic Optical Telescope on the island of La Palma and the Calar Alto Observatory in Andalucía, Spain.
What's interesting is that this wacky planet was not documented by just one team of astronomers. On the contrary, it was found by two distinct groups of researchers who, although working independently, chanced to spot it around the same time, Phys Org tells us.
Of these research groups, one was led by scientist Mauricio Ortiz with the Center for Astronomy of Heidelberg University. The other team of space explorers was led by specialist Simona Cicwri with the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy in Heidelberg.
Introducing Kepler-432b
Writing in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics, the scientists who discovered Kepler-432b explain that, by the looks of it, the planet is one of the most dense and massive to have so far been documented.
The astronomers detail that, although its size is comparable to that of Jupiter, Kepler-432b appears to have a mass about 6 times greater than that of this cosmic neighbor of ours. This means that it is freakishly dense.
Data obtained using the Nordic Optical Telescope and the Calar Alto Observatory indicates that, rather that move around its parent star in a circle, the planet has a small and surprisingly elongated orbit that it takes about 52 days to complete.
This elongated orbit is the reason why winter temperatures on Kepler-432b revolve around 500 degrees Celsius (932 degrees Fahrenheit) and the summer weather usually gets as hot as 1,000 degrees Celsius (1,832 degrees Fahrenheit).
The planet will soon disappear
The star that the newly discovered planet is busy orbiting is a red giant. As explained by astronomers, this means that it has exhausted the nuclear fuel in its core and is now expanding. In fact, it is already 4 times larger than our Sun.
It is estimated that, in about 200 million years from now, the star will get big enough to swallow Kepler-432b whole. Otherwise put, this planet will not be around for much longer.
“The days of Kepler-432b are numbered. In less than 200 million years, Kepler-432b will be swallowed by its continually expanding host star. This might be the reason why we do not find other planets like Kepler-432b. Astronomically speaking, their lives are extremely short,” says scientist Mauricio Ortiz.