• last week
Scientists have found a planet so strange, it seems to ignore the rules of physics we know! šŸŒŒ This wild discovery, called WASP-12b, is a gas giant so close to its star that itā€™s stretched into the shape of a football instead of being round. šŸˆ Not only that, but itā€™s so hotā€”about 4,600Ā°F (2,550Ā°C)ā€”that itā€™s literally being vaporized by its starā€™s intense heat. šŸŒž Whatā€™s crazier? Its years last just 26 hours, because it zooms around its star at insane speeds. šŸŒŖļø Plus, the planetā€™s surface is pitch black, absorbing almost all the light that hits itā€”like a cosmic sponge. šŸŒ  Credit:
Jupiter's Great Red Spot: By David Ladd/NASA, https://images.nasa.gov/details/GSFC_20180313_Jupiter_m12878_GreatRedSpot
TESS: By NASAā€™s Goddard Space Flight Center, https://exoplanets.nasa.gov/tess/
Venus Transit: By NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center/SDO, https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/10996/
Hidden Planets: By NASA - JPLPlanetQuest / YouTube, https://exoplanets.nasa.gov/exep/coronagraphvideo/
Land of Three Suns: By NASA/JPL-Caltech, https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/images/pia03520-land-of-three-suns-artists-concept-animation/
CC BY 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0:
planet HD 189733b: By ESA/Hubble, NASA, ESA, M. Kornmesser - https://esahubble.org/images/heic1312a/, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=27358993
Koenigstuhl1: By Legacy Surveys / D.Lang (Perimeter Institute) & Meli thev, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=151112776
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Category

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Fun
Transcript
00:00From planets with glass rain and oceans of lava,
00:05to worlds with three suns and giant diamonds,
00:08our universe is full of surprises.
00:11Sometimes we find celestial bodies that shouldn't even exist at all.
00:16But despite all logical reasoning, they live and thrive.
00:21In 2023, we discovered another impossible planet.
00:26TOI-5295b
00:29Once again, our universe turns out to be much more complicated than we thought.
00:34And this isn't the only strange planet that we've discovered in recent years.
00:39So, let's take a look at a couple of these impossible planets.
00:44TOI-5205b is the first one on the list.
00:50This is an unusually large planet orbiting a small star.
00:55It's located about 280 light years from Earth.
00:59It's quadrillions of miles, but on a cosmic scale, it's pretty close.
01:04This planet was discovered just recently, in 2023.
01:08So why is it so special?
01:10Because it doesn't follow the rules of planetary formation,
01:14like other planets in its neighborhood.
01:16TOI-5205b is a bit of a rebel
01:20It orbits a tiny red dwarf star that's only four times larger than Jupiter.
01:26What's so weird about it, you ask?
01:28Well, you see, a red dwarf is basically like the runt of the litter in the world of stars.
01:34This type of star is rather cold, about two times colder than the Sun.
01:40They have a reddish tint, hence the name.
01:43And yep, stars work quite strangely.
01:46The closer they are to red, the colder they are.
01:49And the closer to blue, the hotter they are.
01:51Hey, I don't make the rules.
01:54Anyway, because of all this, they aren't very bright.
01:58So without a good telescope, you won't see them in the sky.
02:02But they aren't just some space losers.
02:05They're the most common stars in the universe.
02:08They also live much longer than our Sun.
02:10And thanks to this, they usually have a bunch of different planets orbiting them,
02:15including those similar to our Earth.
02:18So if one day we decide to find a new home, it may well be near some red dwarf.
02:25But here's the catch with TOI-5205b.
02:29It's a gas giant.
02:31Gas giants like, for example, Jupiter or Saturn, are the behemoths of the universe.
02:37These planets are mainly made up of gases like hydrogen and helium.
02:42They don't have a solid surface like Earth or Mars.
02:45So you can't exactly land on them without getting crushed by the immense pressure.
02:50And they're not called giants for nothing.
02:53They're absolutely massive.
02:55In fact, if you took all the other planets in our solar system and squished them together,
03:00they still wouldn't be as big as Jupiter.
03:03In other words, they're the gassy wrestlers of the planetary family.
03:08So, how is it possible that such a huge planet orbits such a small, weak star?
03:15Red dwarfs are usually considered too small to host gas giants.
03:19Moreover, it's physically impossible.
03:22Or at least, so we thought.
03:24But TOI-5205b had other plans and decided to form near a red dwarf anyway.
03:32It's like a small pea orbiting around a lemon,
03:35which doesn't sound that bad until you remember that Jupiter next to our sun is like a pea next to a basketball.
03:42Only really big stars are able to keep such big planets nearby.
03:47This had astronomers scratching their heads as it went against everything they thought they knew about planet formation.
03:54And while we tried to figure out how TOI-5205b managed to break the rules,
04:00the planet itself seems pretty content to blaze its path through the cosmos.
04:06And it isn't the only one.
04:08In recent years, scientists have discovered a bunch of such forbidden planets.
04:13So let's check out the other ones.
04:16For example, TOI-3757b, a giant planet with the density of a marshmallow.
04:24Imagine a giant planet that's so soft and fluffy it's like a marshmallow floating in space.
04:30That's right, TOI-3757b is a gas giant that's been dubbed the marshmallow planet because of its incredibly low density.
04:40Of course, it's not edible and cute like real marshmallows, but it would still be fun to touch it.
04:46This planet was discovered in 2022.
04:50It's located in the constellation of Auriga the charioteer, 591 light years from us.
04:58Just like the previous one, it's also orbiting around a red dwarf star.
05:03And get this, TOI-3757b only takes around three days to complete one orbit.
05:10Imagine having a birthday every three days.
05:14Also incredibly close to its star, just some 3.5 million miles away.
05:20For comparison, the distance between the sun and the planet closest to it, Mercury, is about 36 million miles.
05:27So TOI-3757b is like right on top of its star.
05:32Let's hope this marshmallow planet doesn't get too toasted.
05:36Now let's talk about how this planet was discovered.
05:39It was spotted by the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, or TESS, a space detective on the hunt for new planets.
05:47The transit detection method is when scientists use the star's light to find their planets.
05:53When the planet passes through the star, it blocks a tiny portion of the star's light, making it look a little dimmer for a while.
06:00Scientists can detect this dip in brightness using special instruments.
06:05If the dip happens regularly, they can tell that there's a planet orbiting the star.
06:10The size of the dip in brightness tells scientists how big the planet is and how close it is to the star.
06:17If the dip is really small, that means the planet is probably pretty small too.
06:22And if the dip happens more frequently, that means the planet is probably closer to the star.
06:28And this is how we discovered our marshmallow planet and many other ones.
06:34Overall, TOI-3757b is a fascinating planet that's captured our imaginations with its unique properties.
06:43Now, let's move on to the next mysterious celestial body, TYC 8998-760-1b, on the border of a planet and a star.
06:55Phew, that was a mouthful.
06:57Let me introduce you to a planet whose name I won't repeat.
07:00Well, this baby is also a gas giant, but not just any gas giant.
07:06In fact, it's so big it could make Jupiter feel like a tiny pebble in comparison.
07:11I mean, it's 14 times the mass of Jupiter and 3 times as big around.
07:17Isn't that impressive?
07:19It orbits a very young, sun-like star 300 light-years away.
07:24This star is only 17 million years old, and yes, it's considered a baby among the stars.
07:31For comparison, our own sun is about 4.5 billion years old.
07:36But the star itself isn't that interesting.
07:39The planet, on the other hand, is a bit of a weirdo.
07:42You see, planets just can't be that big.
07:45With its enormous mass, it should be a star.
07:48It's kind of like the Caspian Sea, which is considered the largest lake in the world.
07:53Just as the Caspian Sea isn't really a sea or a lake, this planet is the middle child of the universe.
08:00Not quite a star, but not exactly a planet either.
08:03Some scientists think that it might be a failed star, which is like saying a cake that didn't rise properly.
08:10And let's talk about its temperature.
08:13You know how you feel like a baked potato when it's 90 degrees Fahrenheit outside?
08:17Well, this planet laughs at us.
08:20Its estimated surface temperature is a whopping 2,600 degrees Fahrenheit.
08:25That's hotter than a jalapeno popper straight out of the fryer.
08:29This time, the planet was discovered by the imaging detection method.
08:34You see, capturing pictures of exoplanets is no easy feat.
08:38The star is always way brighter and ruins the pic.
08:42It's like trying to take a selfie with your crush while your annoying little sibling is jumping up and down in front of you.
08:48But scientists have a solution.
08:50They use some specialized optics and clever observation methods, like coronagraphy.
08:56They basically block out the light of a star so that we can see the planet more clearly.
09:00Magic, right?
09:03And that's how they discovered this not-a-star planet too.
09:07And now it's giving scientists a lot to think about.
09:10It makes us question what we know about the formation of planets.
09:13Let's hope we'll find out more about it in the future.
09:16It's amazing to think about the weird and wacky things that exist in our universe, and these planets definitely fit the bill.
09:23Who knows what else is out there waiting to be discovered?
09:26Maybe someday we'll find a planet that's even more impossible than the ones we just discussed.
09:31Until then, keep your eyes on the skies and your mind open to the infinite possibilities of our universe.
09:40That's it for today.
09:41So, hey, if you pacified your curiosity, then give the video a like and share it with your friends.
09:46Or if you want more, just click on these videos and stay on the Bright Side!

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