A group of American astrophysicists from the University of California at Los Angeles studied the unusual exoplanet WASP-69b, located 160 light-years from Earth. It is a Jupiter-sized gas giant with a huge “tail” of its seething atmosphere. The study was published in the scientific journal magazine Astrophysical Journal (TAJ).
As calculations show, due to its proximity to the star, the gas shell of the planet evaporates at a speed of 200 thousand tons per second. The cloud of hydrogen and helium extends into space for more than 563 thousand kilometers, which is one and a half times the distance between the Earth and the Moon and seven times the diameter of the planet.
It was also revealed that WASP-69b orbits its parent star at tremendous speed, completing a full circle in just four Earth days. For comparison, Mercury, the planet closest to our Sun, orbits every 88 days.
Despite the seemingly massive mass loss, astrophysicists believe the star will not evaporate WASP-69b’s atmosphere. Its mass is 90 times the mass of the Earth, so the planet will not have time to fully boil over during the lifetime of its star.
According to scientists, WASP-69b shows an example of the stability of a planetary system in extreme space conditions.
“Despite the many challenges we may face, our ability to endure and overcome challenges is often much greater than we realize. Our challenges may seem daunting, but like WASP-69b, we have what it takes to keep moving forward,” said Dakota Tyler, lead author of the study.
Earlier astronomers discovered An almost ethereal exoplanet the size of Jupiter.