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These Giant "Super-Puff" Planets Are Less Dense Than Cotton Candy!
DOGO News • • science
Key Points:
- Astronomers have discovered two rare "super-puff" exoplanets, TOI-791 b and TOI-791 c, orbiting a Sun-like star about 1,113 light-years from Earth, notable for their extremely low densities similar to cotton candy.
- The planets were initially detected by volunteers analyzing NASA’s TESS data, observing small dips in the star's brightness caused by planetary transits lasting over 11 hours, the longest complete transits recorded from the ground.
- Measurements combining transit data and gravitational interactions revealed the planets' large sizes but very low masses, confirming their classification as super-puffs, which are thought to have thick hydrogen and helium atmospheres over small solid cores.
- TOI-791 b and TOI-791 c orbit in a resonant pattern, with the inner planet completing five orbits for every three of the outer planet, suggesting they formed together from the same protoplanetary disk.
- Researchers plan to study the atmospheres of these planets using the James Webb Space Telescope to better understand the formation and evolution of super-puff planets.
