We've Discovered a Planet That Ignores Physics Completely

Bright Side

Scientists have found a planet so strange, it seems to ignore the rules of physics we know! 🌌 This wild discovery, called WASP-12b, is a gas giant so close to its star that it’s stretched into the shape of a football instead of being round. 🏈 Not only that, but it’s so hot—about 4,600°F (2,550°C)—that it’s literally being vaporized by its star’s intense heat. 🌞 What’s crazier? Its years last just 26 hours, because it zooms around its star at insane speeds. 🌪️ Plus, the planet’s surface is pitch black, absorbing almost all the light that hits it—like a cosmic sponge. 🌠  Credit: Jupiter's Great Red Spot: By David Ladd/NASA, https://images.nasa.gov/details/GSFC_20180313_Jupiter_m12878_GreatRedSpot TESS: By NASA’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 Animation is created by Bright Side. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Music by Epidemic Sound https://www.epidemicsound.com   Check our Bright Side podcast on Spotify and leave a positive review! https://open.spotify.com/show/0hUkPxD34jRLrMrJux4VxV   Subscribe to Bright Side: https://goo.gl/rQTJZz  ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Our Social Media: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brightside  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brightside.official TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@brightside.official?lang=en   Stock materials (photos, footages and other): https://www.depositphotos.com https://www.shutterstock.com https://www.eastnews.ru ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  For more videos and articles visit: http://www.brightside.me

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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