Astronomers have identified two massive planets, described as lighter than cotton candy, yet comparable in size to Jupiter.
These lightweight giants, found orbiting a star approximately 1,110 light-years from Earth, are the largest exoplanets known to have a density less than that of cotton candy.
According to George Dransfield from the University of Oxford, these celestial bodies are the least dense planets of their size that have been discovered so far.
“The density of these planets can be likened to that of a fresh dollop of shaving foam straight from the can,” Dransfield remarked via email. Her team detailed these discoveries in the latest issue of the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.
Dransfield hypothesizes that these fluffy planets might appear white or blue depending on the cloud conditions in their atmosphere, ruling out any cotton-candy pink hues. It is likely that they consist largely of hydrogen and helium, though confirmation of their composition awaits future observations by NASA’s Webb Space Telescope.
Detected by NASA’s Tess satellite over the past decade, these two especially puffy-puffs orbit a star in the southern constellation Volans, known as the flying fish. The researchers studied the planets’ orbits using telescopes on Earth to determine their density, from 1,110 light-years away. A light-year is nearly 6 trillion miles (9.7 trillion kilometers).
Jupiter, by comparison, is as much as 35 times denser than these two lightweights.
Considered rare in the cosmos, super-puffs are thought to form around the disk of gas and dust around a newborn star where there is more gas than dust. They shed much of the material over time, stripping down even more.
NASA’s tally of worlds outside our solar system currently stands at nearly 6,300 confirmed. Fewer than 40 are super-puffs, according to Dransfield.
“Ultimately, by studying exotic systems containing rare planet types, we add further pieces to the puzzle of planet formation and learn more about our place in the cosmos,” she said.
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