Two different teams of German astronomers (from the Center for Astronomy at the University of Heidelberg and the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy in Heidelberg) have certified the finding of a rather particular exoplanet. It has been baptized as Kepler-432b and it is one of the densest and most massive planets known today . The research results have been published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics .
The discovery of this exoplanet was possible thanks to the 2.2-meter Telescope at the Calar Alto Observatory , in Almería (Spain) and the Nordic Optical Telescope in La Palma (Spain).
According to the scientists’ analysis, this planet in question is six times the mass of Jupiter, but about the same size , which is quite unusual. But its singularities do not end here. The shape and size of its orbit (it orbits its star every 52 days ) will lead Kepker-432b to be eaten up by its star, a red giant with a radius of four times our Sun, in less than 200 million years. “In less than 200 million years, Kepler-432b will be swallowed up by the continued expansion of its host star . This could be the reason why we don’t find other planets like Kepler-432b. Astronomically speaking, their lives are extremely short ”, explains Mauricio Ortiz, co-author of the study.
“Most of the known planets moving around giant stars have large, circular orbits. With its small and very elongated orbit, Kepler-432b is a true nonconformist among planets of this type ”, explains Davide Gandolfi, co-author of the study.
The consequence of this strange orbit is that the planet suffers incredible temperature differences throughout its short year (which lasts less than two of our Earth months), going from 500º Celsius in winter to about 1,000º Celsius in summer. .
