Header Ads

This Super-Puff Planet is Hiding its True Nature Behind Thick Haze

March 20, 2026
This Super-Puff Planet is Hiding its True Nature Behind Thick Haze
By Evan Gough (https://ift.tt/IxPobiZ)

This artist's illustration shows Kepler-51d orbiting its Sun-like star about 2,600 light-years away. The exoplanet is a super-puff planet, an odd type of world with extremely low densities. It's unclear how these types of planets form, and new research uses JWST observations to try to understand them. Unfortunately, the exoplanet's thick haze poses a challenge. Image Credit: NASA, ESA, and L. Hustak, J. Olmsted, D. Player and F. Summers (STScI).

Super-puff planets have extremely low densities, and exoplanet scientists aren't sure why. They seem to defy our understanding of how planets form. Researchers used the JWST to observe the atmosphere of Kepler-51d, one of the puffiest of the super-puffs. Unfortunately, even the powerful space telescope found a featureless spectrum. What does it mean?



March 21, 2026 at 12:35AM
via read more...

Post a Comment

No comments

Subscribe to: Post Comments ( Atom )
Powered by Blogger.