Astronomers have discovered “hot Jupiter,” which rotates very close to its star

Every year, astronomers discover many newexoplanets. Some of these distant worlds are covered with ice, while others are in the habitable zone. It is possible that some of the earth-like planets have life. However, there are other, “hellish” worlds - on such exoplanets the temperature can reach the highest possible levels. Recently, at a distance of 1060 light-years from Earth, researchers discovered a planet that should not exist - the gas giant NGTS-10b. This is the "hot Jupiter", which rotates so close to the star that it makes a complete revolution around it in 18.4 hours. It is not surprising that this exoplanet is of great interest to scientists. Researchers shared their findings in a paper published in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

The existence of hot Jupiters is a real mystery to astronomers

Why are hot Jupiters interested in scientists?

Hot Jupiters are amazing exoplanets. The same gas giants, like the worlds in our solar system, these objects move very close to their suns. The period of revolution of hot Jupiters around the host stars is usually less than 10 days. According to modern models of planet formation, such Jupiters should not exist. The fact is that the gas giant cannot form so close to its star, because gravity, radiation and intense stellar wind must keep the gas from sticking together. Nevertheless, of the more than 4000 confirmed exoplanets discovered to date, up to 337 may be hot Jupiters.

Researchers believe that these gas giantsform in their planetary systems, and then migrate closer to the star. Today we may not know much about how they are born, but the hot Jupiters, who are especially close to their stars, can tell a lot about the interaction of stars and planets. Therefore, these objects are among the least studied exoplanets in the galaxy. In the past, only six hot gas giants were discovered with an orbital period of less than one day.

A huge number of planets in the galaxy are made up of gas, but only hot Jupiters rotate so close to the stars

Between September 21, 2015 and May 14, 2016For years, researchers observed the NGTS-10 star for 237 nights. A detailed study of the images then revealed that the star fades slightly every 18.4 hours. The problem was that the light of neighboring stars makes it difficult to calculate the exact distance to NGTS-10, so the distance of 1060 light years was calculated on the basis of Gaia, the most accurate three-dimensional map of the Milky Way galaxy today. But the error still exists. If the distance is not determined correctly, this may indicate that some data on the size and weight are also incorrect. This problem can be solved by studying the following publication of Gaia data.

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Why is hot Jupiter doomed?

Ongoing Observations of Unusual Solarthe system can detect the decay of the exoplanet’s orbit. Researchers believe that the orbit will decrease by 7 seconds over the next 10 years. If astronomers can get sufficiently accurate measurements of the system, they will be able to see exactly how this happens.