![\"Astronomers](\"https:\/\/wp-assets.futurism.com\/2020\/08\/sourdough-exoplanet-surprisingly-dense-300x158.jpg\")
<\/div>My Density<\/h2>
Astronomers have observed an unusual exoplanet, some 150 light-years from Earth, that’s far more dense for its size and age than thought possible. The discovery could force scientists to rethink how planets are formed.<\/p>
The planet, dubbed K2-25b, orbits a young M dwarf star — the most common type of star in our galaxy — in the Hyades cluster, better known as the Taurus constellation. The planet orbits its star in just 3.5 Earth days.<\/p>
And yet, scientists say, the planet packs 25 times the mass of Earth into a package smaller than Neptune, which has a diameter only about four times that of Earth. In other words, it’s really, really dense.<\/p>
Chungus Planet<\/h2>
Conventional theories suggest that giant planets first form an ice-rock core of five to ten Earth masses, before shrouding themselves in a thick layer of gas, hundreds of times the mass of Earth, like Jupiter.<\/p>
But K2-25b breaks this mold. “K2-25b is unusual,” Gudmundur Stefansson, a postdoctoral fellow at Princeton University, and lead author of the paper, which was recently accepted into The Astronomical Journal, <\/em>said in a statement<\/a>. “The planet is dense for its size and age, in contrast to other young, sub-Neptune-sized planets that orbit close to their host star.”<\/p> “K2-25b, with the measurements in hand, seems to have a dense core, either rocky or water-rich, with a thin envelope,” he added.<\/p> The discovery was made using highly sensitive telescopes that used an “Engineered Diffuser” — a $500 piece of equipment anybody can buy. This diffuser allows light from faraway stars to be spread over more pixels, giving observations more detail and precision.<\/p> In other words, thanks to the diffuser, smaller diameter telescopes can be used to make far more precise measurements of stars that otherwise would’ve required much larger telescopes.<\/p> READ MORE: <\/strong>Surprisingly dense exoplanet challenges planet formation theories<\/a> [Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy] More on dense stars:<\/strong> Star Blasts Own Planets Into Shattered Corpses, Devours Remains<\/a><\/em><\/p> The post Like Your First Quarantine Sourdough Attempt, This Exoplanet Is “Surprisingly Dense”<\/a> appeared first on Futurism<\/a>.<\/p> Read more here: My Density Astronomers have observed an unusual exoplanet, some 150 light-years from Earth, that\u2019s far more dense for its size and age than thought possible. The discovery could force scientists to rethink how planets are formed. The planet, dubbed K2-25b, orbits a young M dwarf star \u2014 the most common type of star in our galaxy \u2014 in the Hyades cluster, better known as the Taurus constellation Continue reading Fair Diffuse<\/h2>
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Like Your First Quarantine Sourdough Attempt, This Exoplanet Is “Surprisingly Dense”<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"