The universe contains not only mysterious and dangerous things, but also extremely interesting and cute things. The following “cotton” planets are examples.
Floating, swollen like cotton candy suspended in space, this is the description of the planets orbiting Kepler 51, 2,600 light years away from us. Recent NASA observations from the Hubble Space Telescope not only confirm the existence, but also reveal why these planets are so cute.
They are classified as very rare and distinct young planets that are not present in the solar system we live in. These planets were first observed in 2014, but until recently the latest observations have helped scientists refine their estimates of their mass and size.
As a result, these planets are predicted to have a density of less than 0.1 grams per square centimeter. The floating atmosphere, rich in hydrogen and helium, makes these planets less massive than Earth but about the size of Jupiter, the most massive planet in their solar system.
Using the Hubble Space Telescope to observe the two Kepler planets 51b and 51d, the researchers once expected to find traces of their atmospheric water. But then, surprisingly enough, they did not detect the composition of the water in the atmosphere.
Scientists believe that the reason is partly due to the cloud of particles floating around the planets. Unlike Earth’s vapor clouds, the clouds of these planets can contain crystals of salt or photochemical fog, similar to Titan – Saturn’s largest “moon”.
On the other hand, the researchers also hypothesized that the low density of these planets stems from the fact that they are only young planets, 500 million years old compared to 4.6 million years old. years of the Sun. Computer models show that these planets form outside of the central star’s “trail” – the region that allows ice to exist.
Gradually, the orbits of these planets would recede near Kepler 51. At that point, the soft, thin atmosphere made them feel like the present cotton would dissolve into space. By computer modeling, scientists determined that Kepler 51b, the star closest to Kepler 51, would become a smaller, hotter version of Neptune in a billion years.
