Known as Ultra hot Jupiter, KELT-9b is an exoplanet that orbits the late B-type/early A-type star KELT-9. It is located about 670 light-years from Earth, Eurasia Dairy reports citing Tech Explorist.
With a surface temperature of 7,800 degrees Fahrenheit (4,300 degrees Celsius) – hotter than some stars—this planet is the hottest found so far.
Recently, a group of astronomers using NASA’s Spitzer space telescope has discovered proof that the heat of the KELT-9b is an excessive amount of in any event, for molecules to remain intact. Molecules of hydrogen gas are likely ripped apart on the dayside of KELT-9b, unable to reform until their disjointed atoms flow around to the planet’s nightside.
Even though still very hot, the nightside’s slight cooling is sufficient to allow hydrogen gas molecules to reform—that is until they stream back to the dayside, where they’re torn apart all over again.
Megan Mansfield, a graduate student at the University of Chicago, said, “This kind of planet is so extreme in temperature, it is a bit separate from a lot of other exoplanets. There are some other hot Jupiters and ultra-hot Jupiters that are not quite as hot but still warm enough that this effect should be taking place.”
Mansfield said, “If you don’t account for hydrogen dissociation, you get high-speed winds of [37 miles or] 60 kilometers per second. That’s probably not likely.”
The findings are published in Astrophysical Journal Letters.