Published on StarDate Online (https://legacy.stardate.org)

Home > Super Heated

Super Heated [1]

the super-heated planet KELT 9b orbits its star [2]
Hot World [2]

The hottest planet yet discovered, KELT 9b [3], orbits its parent star from pole to pole, as seen in this NASA animation. KELT-9b is bigger and heavier than Jupiter, the giant of our own solar system. It orbits its star, which spins so fast that it's noticeably flattened, at just one-tenth of the distance from the Sun to its closest planet. So KELT-9b may top out at 7,800 degrees Fahrenheit, which is hotter than most stars. The planet’s atmosphere may be boiling off into space, forming a “tail” of super-hot gas. [NASA/JPL/Caltech]

Vega, one of the brightest stars in the night sky, may be orbited by one of the hottest planets. The planet hasn’t been confirmed. But in early observations, it appears to be about 20 times the mass of Earth. And it’s so close to Vega that daytime temperatures soar to 5400 degrees Fahrenheit. That easily puts it on the list of hottest known exoplanets.

Astronomers have discovered hundreds of super-heated planets. The heat can melt the planet’s surface and create fearsome winds and hellish rains.

On HD 189733b, for example, the thermostat is cranked up to 1700 degrees. That appears to create winds between the dayside and the cooler nightside of about 9,000 miles per hour. It may also form clouds that rain beads of molten glass.

And WASP-76b, with peak temperatures of 4,000 degrees, could see rains of molten iron, with winds howling at 50,000 miles per hour.

The hottest planet yet seen is KELT-9b. It’s near the middle of Cygnus, the swan, which is low in the northeast at nightfall, to the lower left of brighter Vega.

KELT-9b is bigger and heavier than Jupiter, the giant of our own solar system. It orbits a Sun-like star at just one-tenth of the distance from the Sun to its closest planet. So KELT-9b may top out at 7800 degrees — hotter than most stars. The planet’s atmosphere may be boiling off into space, forming a “tail” of super-hot gas behind a super-hot planet.
 

Script by Damond Benningfield

Keywords:

  • Cygnus, the Swan [4]
  • Exoplanet [5]
  • Vega [6]
StarDate: 
Wednesday, June 7, 2023
Teaser: 
Putting some exoplanets in the oven
the super-heated planet KELT 9b orbits its star [2]
the super-heated planet KELT 9b orbits its star [2]
  • About StarDate
  • Underwriting
  • SkyTips Sign-Up
  • Change mailing address
  • Privacy Policy
  • Copyright and Usage
  • Contact

StarDate is brought to you in part through the generous support of our underwriters.
Interested in underwriting? Let us know

 

FacebookTwitterYouTube

©2022 The University of Texas McDonald Observatory


Source URL:https://legacy.stardate.org/radio/program/2023-06-07

Links
[1] https://legacy.stardate.org/radio/program/2023-06-07 [2] https://legacy.stardate.org/astro-guide/gallery/hot-world [3] https://exoplanets.nasa.gov/exoplanet-catalog/3508/kelt-9-b/ [4] https://legacy.stardate.org/astro-guide/cygnus-swan [5] https://legacy.stardate.org/astro-guide/exoplanet [6] https://legacy.stardate.org/astro-guide/vega