Astronomers have finally announced that an exoplanet discovered a few years ago is a bit like a potato. The planet, called WASP-103b, is located in the constellation Hercules, about 1,800 light-years away from the solar system.

According to Agence France-Presse, WASP-103b is so close to its star, WASP-103, that it is about 50 times farther from the sun than the earth is, so that the cycle of the planet takes only 22 hours, while the cycle of the earth takes 365 days .

Astronomers first discovered the unusually shaped planet in 2014.

“WASP-103b is the exoplanet with the highest expected deformation signature in its transit light curve and one of the shortest expected spiral times,” said a study published in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics.

Measuring the planet’s tidal deformation will allow it to estimate secondary fluid Love numbers and gain insight into WASP-103’s internal structure, the study added. The Love number is a dimensionless parameter that measures the stiffness of a planetary body, and studies have shown that WASP-103b is similar to Jupiter.

“This would allow confinement of the internal structure and composition of WASP-103b, which could provide clues to the expansion of hot Jupiters,” it added.

Suzanne Barros, an astrophysicist at the University of Porto in Portugal, pointed out that if the planet was 1.5 times the mass of Jupiter, its radius would be twice that of Jupiter. Barros predicts that WASP-103b will become very puffy due to the heat of its star, among other mechanisms.

AFP further reported that scientists hypothesized that WASP-103b had a solid core, covered with a layer of liquid, and surrounded by a gaseous atmosphere — just like Jupiter.

Meanwhile, the study, published in Astronomy and Astrophysics, says that future observations with the James Webb Space Telescope could better constrain WASP-103b’s radial Love number because of their high signal-to-noise Infrared limb dimming features smaller than and smaller.

Complete News Source : Hindustan Times