"Snake planet" appears with a tail as long as 44 Earths

(NLDO) - Exoplanet WASP-69 b is wrapping around its parent star with a ghostly tail longer than 44 Earths placed side by side.

According to Live Science, WASP-69 b is a mysterious planet located 160 light years from Earth and is giant in size, almost as big as our Jupiter.

It's been a decade since it was discovered. But scientists have noticed something strange: The planet has lost seven times the mass of Earth since 2014.

Research recently published in the scientific journal Astronomy and Astrophysics reveals that this has turned it into a giant snake in the middle of the universe.

Planet WASP-69 b has a tail many times longer than its own giant diameter - Graphic: NASA

Scientists have previously speculated that WASP-69 b might have a comet-like tail made up of some of the gas it leaks into space, causing it to lose mass. But no one has yet verified this hypothesis.

Now, using a new analysis method based on data from the WM Keck Observatory (located in Hawaii - USA), scientists have found the tail. And it is completely different from imagination.

According to astrophysicist Dakotah Tyler from the University of California at Los Angeles (USA), the lead author of the study, the tail of WASP-69 b does not resemble a comet tail.

It's something much more spectacular: a giant helium plume with a length greater than 44 Earths lined up side by side.

With a period of just 3.9 days around the star WASP-69, WASP-69 b can be thought of as a giant snake wrapping around its parent star in a vicious cycle.

WASP-69 b's tail formed when fierce stellar winds from its parent star blew gas away from the exoplanet, creating a trail behind it.

Stellar winds, similar to the solar wind, are a continuous stream of charged particles ejected from a star. Because WASP-69 b is so close to its parent star, it is heavily affected.

This discovery could help us learn more about how gas giant planets form and evolve over time.

It also gives scientists a rare opportunity to measure the stellar winds of distant stars by using the tail as a giant "wind tunnel," said a representative from NASA, one of the agencies involved in the study.

Source: https://nld.com.vn/xuat-hien-hanh-tinh-ran-moc-duoi-dai-bang-44-trai-dat-196241215091120812.htm