WASHINGTON, Aug. 26, 2009
Suicidal Planet on Death Spiral into Star
Gigantic Planet Causing Own Orbit To Warp, Putting It on Collision Course with Star
-
(H-S Center for Astrophysics)
The odd, fiery planet is so close to its star and so large that it is triggering tremendous plasma tides on the star. Those powerful tides are in turn warping the planet's zippy less-than-a-day orbit around its star.
The result: an ever-closer tango of death, with the planet eventually spiraling into the star.
It's a slow death. The planet WASP-18b has maybe a million years to live, said planet discoverer Coel Hellier, a professor of astrophysics at the Keele University in England. Hellier's report on the suicidal planet is in Thursday's issue of the journal Nature.
"It's causing its own destruction by creating these tides," Hellier said.
The star is called WASP-18 and the planet is WASP-18b because of the Wide Angle Search for Planets team that found them.
The planet circles a star that is in the constellation Phoenix and is about 325 light-years away from Earth, which means it is in our galactic neighborhood. A light-year is about 5.8 trillion miles.
The planet is 1.9 million miles from its star, 1/50th of the distance between Earth and the sun, our star. And because of that the temperature is about 3,800 degrees.
Its size - 10 times bigger than Jupiter - and its proximity to its star make it likely to die, Hellier said.
Think of how the distant moon pulls Earth's oceans to form twice-daily tides. The effect the odd planet has on its star is thousands of times stronger, Hellier said. The star's tidal bulge of plasma may extend hundreds of miles, he said.
Like most planets outside our solar system, this planet was not seen directly by a telescope. Astronomers found it by seeing dips in light from the star every time the planet came between the star and Earth.
So far astronomers have found more than 370 planets outside the solar system. This one is "yet another weird one in the exoplanet menagerie," said planet specialist Alan Boss of the Carnegie Institution of Washington.
It's so unusual to find a suicidal planet that University of Maryland astronomer Douglas Hamilton questioned whether there was another explanation. While it is likely that this is a suicidal planet, Hamilton said it is also possible that some basic physics calculations that all astronomers rely on could be dead wrong.
The answer will become apparent in less than a decade if the planet seems to be further in a death spiral, he said.
Đ MMIX The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Add a Comment See all 22 Comments
- by MVV12 August 27, 2009 11:39 AM EDT
Besides the garden and politics... if the planet in question ends up changing course in the laws of nature (physics) it would be the most certain proof of Epicurusīs Clinamem, where Free Will ables atoms to slightly change the inevitable downfall movement to destiny.
I guess we may now in the next ten years. If not we may just wait for our destiny knowing that Free Will is just an illusion of our minds.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Free will vs. predestination. That argument has been going on for a few thousand years. :) - Reply to this comment
- Besides the garden and politics... if the planet in question ends up changing course in the laws of nature (physics) it would be the most certain proof of Epicurusīs Clinamem, where Free Will ables atoms to slightly change the inevitable downfall movement to destiny.
I guess we may now in the next ten years. If not we may just wait for our destiny knowing that Free Will is just an illusion of our minds. - Reply to this comment
- by rf35 August 27, 2009 2:20 AM EDT
Please pardon the spelling errors...I hit "submit" accidently before I had a chance to proof it. I feel just like a CBS writer!
I have hit the "submit" button a few times before I was actually ready to do so. I find it's too close to the bottom arrow that you click on to scroll down. So when I go to scroll down to go over what I have written, I hit it instead. : ) - Reply to this comment
- I can't help but wonder how a planet so massive formed so close to its star. I'm no expert in plnetary formation, but as I understand the process, shouldn't the material have been sucked up by the star instead of accreating into this planet? Or did it form farther out and has been spiraling in for a very long time.
- Reply to this comment
- by prometheus21 August 26, 2009 4:07 PM EDT
Yes, the field of SPECULATIVE SCIENCE turned to fact due to a lack of evidence to prove it otherwise has really advanced in recent years with growing desire for tenure and celebrity.
***
While it is possible for the laws of physics as we understand it to change over time, math remains the same -- always. And mathematics is how these things are figured out. - Reply to this comment
- by woeisme1 August 26, 2009 4:30 PM EDT
"It's causing its own destruction by creating these tides," Hellier said.
=========================
Is this guy really talking about a planet or the republican party?
----------------------------------------------------------------------
by Questionews August 26, 2009 4:32 PM EDT
Lame!
----------------------------------------------------------------------
by woeisme1 August 26, 2009 4:35 PM EDT
True though. And I agree. The republican extremist is lame.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
:) Woeisyou, I have to give you credit. At least you're consistent. And persistent. :) - Reply to this comment
- "It's causing its own destruction by creating these tides," Hellier said.
=========================
Is this guy really talking about a planet or the republican party? - Reply to this comment
- So to Recap
A planet went through an natural climate change, hmmm no Mankind on planet..hmmmm how can that be,hmmm on earth climate change is caused by Man (or at least promoted to be so by men who want to make money off of a natural event)
hmmm damn Bush family they probably destroyed that planet. - Reply to this comment
- So far astronomers have found more than 370 planets outside the solar system. This one is "yet another weird one in the exoplanet menagerie," said planet specialist Alan Boss of the Carnegie Institution of Washington.
It's so unusual to find a suicidal planet that University of Maryland astronomer Douglas Hamilton questioned whether there was another explanation. While it is likely that this is a suicidal planet, Hamilton said it is also possible that some basic physics calculations that all astronomers rely on could be dead wrong.
Yes, the field of SPECULATIVE SCIENCE turned to fact due to a lack of evidence to prove it otherwise has really advanced in recent years with growing desire for tenure and celebrity. I don't think most people realize the incredibly limited body of information and acceptable error these people are dealing with. And most of it goes unchallenged because there's really not enough information to denounce the methods they use to make there wildly populated detailed description vs assumptions.
You'll note that some of the most incredible advances in the accumulation of new species, discoveries and described objects occure in DEEP SPACE ASTRONOMY and PALEONTOLOGY. And yet they also have the least amount of plentiful and accurate data to deal with. - Reply to this comment
- Maybe somebody should offer some counseling or something.
- Reply to this comment
- I will say this that "PHOTO" they have with this article is of outstanding definition, resolution and quality considering this is 325 LIGHT YEARS away.
Those last upgrades they made to Hubble must have included some incredibly advanced alien technology or something. Man, you feel like you're RIGHT IN THERE, cheap CGI rendering and all. - Reply to this comment
- Bush's fault
- Reply to this comment
- It's so unusual to find a suicidal planet that University of Maryland astronomer Douglas Hamilton questioned whether there was another explanation.
Of course there is another explanation - Maybe the planet is homicidal and thinks it can kill it's star! - Reply to this comment
- I wonder if that other planet is suffering through global warning? Better get Al Gore there right away.
- Reply to this comment
- Great. Now that should be something to watch, observe and document. I can hardly wait so we can all learn a little bit more about 'what lies beyond'. Cool, let's rock!
- Reply to this comment
The road ahead in Afghanistan, and the crucial decision Obama faces.
