Astronomers confirm two Jupiter-sized “super-puff” exoplanets lighter than cotton candy

Jupiter-sized giant planets but lighter than candy floss: Researchers at Oxford and Birmingham universities discover super-puff planets TOI-791 b and TOI-791 c; here's how far they are from Earth, their densities, how they formed, and why they are so rare

Astronomers have discovered two 'super-puff' giant planets, TOI-791 b and TOI-791 c, boasting densities lower than candy floss. Orbiting a star 1,110 light-years away, these Jupiter-sized worlds are remarkably diffuse, offering scientists a unique opportunity to study planetary formation. Their existence challenges current models, prompting further investigation into how such low-density gas giants come to be.

2 hours ago

Astronomers Find Biggest Super-Puff Planets Yet That Are Lighter Than Cotton Candy

Astronomers have discovered two Jupiter-sized exoplanets with densities lower than cotton candy, making them the lightest known worlds of their size. The rare "super-puffs," located about 1,110 light-years away, are likely composed mostly of hydrogen and helium, with follow-up observations by the James Webb Space Telescope expected to probe their atmospheres. The Associated Press reports: [University of Oxford's George Dransfield] suspects these fluffy, wispy worlds are probably white or blue, depending on whether the skies there are cloudy -- no shades of cotton-candy pink. The planets are probably mostly hydrogen and helium, although it will take follow-up observations by NASA's Webb Space Telescope to confirm their chemical makeup. Detected by NASA's Tess satellite over the past decade, these two especially puffy-puffs orbit a star in the southern constellation Volans, known as the flying fish. The researchers studied the planets' orbits using telescopes on Earth to determine their density, from 1,110 light-years away. A light-year is nearly 6 trillion miles (9.7 trillion kilometers). Jupiter, by comparison, is as much as 35 times denser than these two lightweights. Considered rare in the cosmos, super-puffs are thought to form around the disk of gas and dust around a newborn star where there is more gas than dust. They shed much of the material over time, stripping down even more. NASA's tally of worlds outside our solar system currently stands at nearly 6,300 confirmed. Fewer than 40 are super-puffs, according to Dransfield. The findings have been published in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

22 hours ago

Astronomers found two rare super puff planets lighter than cotton candy

Two newly confirmed "super-puff" planets are so diffuse that they are less dense than cotton candy, despite being about the size of Jupiter. Their rare orbital relationship and enormous, lightweight atmospheres could provide valuable clues about how some of the strangest planets in the galaxy come to exist.

1 day ago