The Hubble Space Telescope has detected a planet with a comet like tail. Roughly 153 light years from Earth, the planet HD 209458b was discovered. The gas giant planet is bombarded by solar winds as it orbit’s it’s star at break-neck speeds. Astronomers say the planet orbits it’s star once every 3.5 days, compared to Mercury which orbits our Sun every 88 days.
The result of this high-speed transit is the planet is losing it’s gaseous mass and creating a comet-like tail. Scientists say the surface temperature may exceed 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit. Astronomer Cynthia Froning of the University of Colorado said “This planet is getting blasted by the star and that’s blowing the atmosphere off.”
The Hubble Space Telescope has detected many planets during the course of it’s operation. All have been gas giants, like our own Jupiter. HD 209458b is unique in that it actually transits across the face of it’s star as seen by Hubble.
The solar wind is so strong that the planet has a comet like tail as it’s atmosphere is blown off. Just as in the case of comets here that pass near the Earth, the tail is the result of the solar wind impacting on the icy surface as comets circle our own Sun. It is estimated that this mysterious world is losing some 80,000 pounds of mass a day and may disappear in a trillion years. Another planet discovered by Hubble, Wasp-18b, about 325 light years from Earth, is also a gas giant extremely close to it’s star. Wasp-18b is said to be ten times large than Jupiter and yet orbits it’s star once a day!
July 19th, 2010 at 8:45 am
You’d age pretty quickly on that planet but on the positive side, you’d live to be about 8,000 years old.
Plus with everybody being born on one of three days it would be one long non-stop party.
July 19th, 2010 at 9:14 am
Moron,
Why would you age quickly? An orbital period this slow would no significant effect on time or how fast you would age.
Everybody born on one of three days? The planet orbits it’s sun every 3.5 earth days. The rotational component of the planet itself determines the ‘day’ of it’s inhabitants.
The rotation isn’t given in the article.
Why make a fool of yourself with these stupid comments.
July 19th, 2010 at 9:22 am
Every trip around the sun would be a year. Therefore you would have a birthday every three years.
Lighten up jacka$$
July 19th, 2010 at 10:10 am
Looks like the CIC in a strong wind.
@ Panda…
Your age is showing.
“Why make a fool of yourself with these stupid comments.”
Do you really belive anyone could live any portion of a second on that planet ?
Trying to show off your brains just made you look like a numbskull
July 19th, 2010 at 2:53 pm
Panda is probably one of those people who hates birthday parties in the work lunch room. Maybe allergic to cake, too.
I did not read if they (NASA astronomers) had determined the length of a day on HD 209458b is (can you believe I can actually now write that from memory?). However, we do know that one day on Jupiter is the equivalent of ~9.9 Earth hours. As HD 209458b is larger than Jupiter, it’s entirely possible that it’s day could be shorter than that.
That other planet I mentioned, Wasp-18b, is estimated to be ten times the size of Jupiter. I’m always amazed and astounded by this sort of stuff. To think of a planet that large, 500 times wider than Earth, flying around it’s sun in just one Earth day. It’s WILD!