A curious object has been spotted by astronomers looking for the youngest satellite in the cosmos .
PTFO8 - 8695 b is believe to be a red-hot Jupiter , a gas elephantine major planet orbiting its host headliner fabulously intimately . But this likely planet is not like any other . Its outer layers are being slowly eaten by its host star , a very young star 1,100 light - eld from Earth . The team think the major planet is in a obtuse death helix towards the star .
“ A handful of known planets are in likewise pocket-size field , but because this headliner is only 2 million years old this is one of the most utmost exemplar , ” said Rice University stargazer Christopher Johns - Krull , lead author of the study , in astatement .
The front of a satellite so close to such a young star raises many interrogation on how this satellite formed . The researchers ' bailiwick has been accept for issue in The Astrophysical Journal , with the pre - print paper useable to readonline .
“ We do n’t know the ultimate fate of this major planet . It likely formed farther away from the star and has transmigrate into a point where it ’s being destroyed , ” explained Johns - Krull .
“ We screw there are close - orbit planets around midway - older stars that are presumably in stable orbits . What we do n’t recognise is how quickly this unseasoned planet is exit to lose its mass and whether it will lose too much to survive . "
planet are not honour direct ; they are found by take care at features in the lighting of the virtuoso . Young genius are very alive , which can make it very difficult to confirm if a planet is there or not . One such feature , however , is call H - Alpha , and it ’s the sparkle emitted by an excited H atom .
" We saw one component of the hydrogen emission bulge on one side of the star ’s emission and then move over to the other side , " said Lisa Prato , an astronomer at Lowell Observatory and co - loss leader of the team with Johns - Krull .
" When a major planet transits a star , you may define the orbital period of the major planet and how fast it is go toward you or away from you as it orbits . So , we said , ' If the major planet is real , what is the speed of the planet relative to the star ? ' And it turned out that the speed of the planet was just where this supererogatory bit of H - alpha emission was moving back and forth . "
If the emission is a planet , it is only between 3 and 4 per centum of the size of its adept ( at most , twice the mass of Jupiter ) but the H - alpha emission is quite large and almost as bright as the star . A planet whose hydrogen is being slowly sucked aside would check the observations very well .
Main ikon credit : A. Passwaters / Rice University / Skyhawk92
