The exoplanet WASP-12b, located about 1,200 light-years from Earth in the constellation Auriga, is nearly twice the size of Jupiter and looks nothing like the rounded planets we are used to.
Instead, the gas giant looks more like a football or rugby ball than a sphere.
The “warped” shape is caused by the force of gravity — which forms huge tidal forces that are stretching the planet into an egg shape, according to NASA.
Discovered in 2008, WASP-12b has an orbit of 1.1 days — so close to its parent star that it is being ripped apart.
According to NASA, the scorching temperature of the planet can reach approximately 2,210ºC.
The star’s heat is slowly breaking down and eating away at WASP-12b’s atmosphere. It is estimated that in 10 million years, this world outside our Solar System could be completely consumed.
See the 3D representation of the shape of the exoplanet WASP-12b:
Another warped exoplanet
In the search for planets beyond our Solar System, astronomers in 2014 discovered WASP-103b, an exoplanet located about 1,225 light-years from Earth in the constellation Hercules.
Like WASP-12b, the planet is nearly twice the size of Jupiter.
It was observed using the Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes. The researchers wanted to get another perspective on WASP-103b using Switzerland’s joint mission and the European Space Agency’s CHCharacterising ExOPlanet Satellite (CHEOPS) satellite, to combine it with previous observations.
Source: CNN Brasil
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