Monster Planet does not fit into the theory of planetary formation

Monster Planet does not fit into the theory of planetary formation

It was possible to find a large-scale planet in orbit of a distant star, which should not exist in accordance with the theory of planetary formation. The find was called NGTS-1b, and it literally challenges all the usual models that claim that a planet of this size could not appear near a small star.

This is a representative of the gas giants, enlisted in the category of hot Jupiter. But the main difference is that the alien world is located much closer to the star (3% of the Earth-Sun distance), and it takes 2.6 days to orbit.

The host star occupies only half the solar mass and radius. Finding the planet was difficult precisely because of the tiny star. But the most important thing is that such M-dwarfs are the most common stellar types in the Universe. Perhaps the major planets around them are still waiting for their discoverer.

Monster Planet does not fit into the theory of planetary formation

Artistic interpretation of cool red star and NGTS-1b

NGTS-1b is the first planet discovered in the NGTS project using 12 telescopes. Scientists had a few months to conduct a continuous review of the sky, until they fixed the red light of the star with failures of 2.6 days, which confirmed the passage of the planet in front of it.

Using this information and the radial velocity of the star, we were able to calculate the orbital path, size, position and mass of the planet. The discovery of such objects is a real surprise for researchers.

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