2020 February 27
NGST-10b: Discovery of a Doomed Planet
Illustration Credit: ESA, C. Carreau; Text: Alex R. Howe (NASA/USRA, Science Meets Fiction Blog)
Explanation: This hot jupiter is doomed. Hot jupiters are giant planets like Jupiter that orbit much closer to their parent stars than Mercury does to our Sun. But some hot jupiters are more extreme than others. NGTS-10b, illustrated generically, is the closest and fastest-orbiting giant planet yet discovered, circling its home star in only 18 hours. NGTS-10b is a little larger than Jupiter, but it orbits less than two times the diameter of its parent star away from the star’s surface. When a planet orbits this close, it is expected to spiral inward, pulled down by tidal forces to be eventually ripped apart by the star’s gravity. NGTS-10b, discovered by researchers at the University of Warwick, is named after the ESO’s Next Generation Transit Survey, which detected the imperiled planet when it passed in front of its star, blocking some of the light. Although the violent demise of NGTS-10b will happen eventually, we don’t yet know when.
Tomorrow’s picture: open space
NGST-10b：劫難已定的行星
圖示提供: ESA , C. Carreau;文稿: Alex R. Howe ( NASA / USRA , Science Meets Fiction Blog)
說明: 這顆熱類木星滅亡的宿命已定。熱類木星是指大小和木星相當，但繞行其母星的軌道，比水星與太陽的距離還近的系外巨行星。在諸多的熱類木星之中，有些更是極端。舉例來說，NGTS-10b是截自目前所發現的，最靠近母星及軌道速率最快的巨行星，繞母星一圈只要18小時。NGTS-10b稍大於木星，但軌道離母星的表面不到母星直徑的2倍。當行星的軌道如此密近時，在潮汐力的作用下，它預期會迴旋掉向母星，最後會被母星的重力給扯碎。NGTS-10b是由英國華威大學的研究人員所發現，並以這顆行星凌星遮住部分母星星光時，偵測到它的歐南天文臺．下世代凌星巡天計畫（NGTS）為名。NGTS-10b 粉身碎骨的末日終究會降臨，只是我們不知會在何時。（hot jupiters熱類木星）
By : NASA 中文
Tags: 系外行星 熱類木星
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