Astronomers have discovered an exoplanet whose years last only 8 hours

The years go by very quickly on the planet GJ 367b. On average, a full year takes just 7.7 hours according to the scientists who discovered it.

Credit: Jorek Peter/Shutterstock

In April 2021, NASA’s highly powerful instrument has so far identified nearly 2,200 planets. The Transiting Exoplanet Reconnaissance Satellite (TESS) helps identify exoplanets outside our solar system.

Thanks to this advanced device, a team ofAstronomy scientists Exoplanet GJ 367b discovered. Not having a less complex name, GJ 367b, on the other hand, has inhospitable characteristics:

Its temperature reached an insane counter of 1.482 degrees Celsius. Its star’s radiation would be 500 times higher than that of the Earth with the Sun partly responsible for the disappearance of its atmosphere.

Moreover, astronomers refer to this extrasolar planet It is a rocky world, the core of which is iron and nickel. Just like another planet,” We find a planet the size of Mars made up of Mercury. It is one of the smallest planets discovered so far Said Roland Vandersbeek, a senior researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

A year lasts less than eight hours

GJ 367b is located 31 light-years from our sun, and has the peculiarity of spinning around its orbit in exactly 7.7 hours. Or an entire year passes in less than eight hours! Which puts the GJ 367b in the category planets « very short period (USP) ‘, indicates the study.

An instrument connected to the telescope at the La Silla Observatory in Chile determined that GJ 367b has a mass ” It is only half the size of our planet “, writing NEWSWEEK Who reports the information.

« Understanding how these planets meet near their host stars is like a detective story. Why is it missing the outer atmosphere of the planet? How did these planets meet? Was this process peaceful or violent? I hope this system will give us more information Happy Natalia Guerrero, TESS team member.

GJ 367b has not finished revealing all her secrets to us…