Largest Known Exoplanet Discovered

[spshu]

Largest Known Exoplanet Discovered

Ker Than
Staff Writer, SPACE.com
Mon Aug 6, 12:15 PM ET


The largest planet ever discovered is also one of the strangest and theoretically should not even exist, scientists say.

Dubbed TrES-4, the planet is about 1.7 times the size of Jupiter and belongs to a small subclass of "puffy" planets that have extremely low densities. The finding will be detailed in an upcoming issue of Astrophysical Journal.


"Its mean density is only about 0.2 grams per cubic centimeter, or about the density of balsa wood," said study leader Georgi Mandushev of the Lowell Observatory in Arizona. "And because of the planet's relatively weak pull on its upper atmosphere, some of the atmosphere probably escapes in a comet-like tail."


The planet's large mass-to-density ratio makes it an anomaly among known exoplanets, and its existence cannot be explained by current models.

[First of Two]

[StephenWright] "I wanna live on a planet the density of balsa wood, so that when aliens play on my front lawn I can come outside, pick it up, and yell "get the hell off my lawn or I'm going to throw the planet at you." [/StephenWright]

[The Tatterdemalion King]

Sweet...

[Tobian]

Wierd! Still, I imagine, as a planet, which albeit is the density of balsa wood.. is still a planet

Cool stuff!

[C5]

So... the average density of materials on this planet is comparable to balsa ?
Yay! We have finally found the planet where Earthlings can be Supermen!