- Astronomers found two giant planets as large as Jupiter but much lighter than cotton candy
- The planets orbit a star about 1,110 light-years away in the southern constellation Volans
- They have densities comparable to shaving foam and are the lightest known planets of their size
Astronomers have discovered two giant planets that are surprisingly light despite being as large as Jupiter. The unusual planets are so low in density that scientists say they are lighter than cotton candy, making them the lightest known planets of their size, reported NYPost.
The two giant planets orbit a star located about 1,110 light-years away. They are the biggest exoplanets ever found with a density lower than cotton candy.
George Dransfield from the University of Oxford said these are the lightest known planets of their size. She said the two planets have densities comparable to a nice blob of shaving foam, fresh from the can.
Dransfield and her team reported their findings in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.
Dransfield suspects the fluffy planets are probably white or blue, depending on whether their skies are cloudy. She said there would be no shades of cotton-candy pink.
The researchers believe the planets are mostly made of hydrogen and helium. However, follow-up observations by NASA's Webb Space Telescope will be needed to confirm their chemical makeup.
NASA's Tess satellite detected the two unusually puffy planets over the past decade. They orbit a star in the southern constellation Volans, also known as the flying fish.
The research team used telescopes on Earth to study the planets' orbits and calculate their density from a distance of 1,110 light-years. A light-year is nearly 6 trillion miles.
For comparison, Jupiter is as much as 35 times denser than these two planets. Scientists say super-puff planets are rare in the universe. They are thought to form in the gas-and-dust disk around a newborn star, where there is more gas than dust. Over time, they lose much of their material, making them even lighter.
NASA has confirmed nearly 6,300 planets outside our solar system so far. According to Dransfield, fewer than 40 of them are classified as super-puffs.
Dransfield said that by studying unusual planetary systems containing rare planet types, scientists add more pieces to the puzzle of planet formation and learn more about humanity's place in the cosmos.
