Planet Unwinds in 'Death March'

I just read about a planet 1.4 times The mass of Jupiter. The planet orbits it's sun in 26 hours completing a year

The most amazing part is gravity !!

The gravity is about 10 million times stronger then on Earth
Weird part is it comes from it's sun !!!

A peace of the article and visit the link for the complete story.

We are witnessing the ongoing disruption and death march of a planet, Li said.

Now scientists find the heat from the star is not enough to explain the planet's inflated size. Instead, the gravity of the star appears responsible.

Enjoy !

The possibilities are infinit in an almost endless universe !
Sad is the infinite arrogance we cal truth, claiming we we understand it.

[edit on 24/2/10 by Sinter Klaas]

[edit on 24/2/10 by Sinter Klaas]

[edit on 24/2/10 by Sinter Klaas]

Star and Flag for you my friend!

I find this article really cool.
It's too bad Hubble can't get some nice clear pictures of this process.

Clear pictures like we are getting from other telescopes of our own planets would be amazing to see.

I imagine it will eventually get so close that the sun starts to pull off the planets atmosphere, ultimately ending with the planet consumed by the sun entirely.

A spectacular show to be sure!

Originally posted by Sinter Klaas
I just read about a planet 1.4 times The mass of Jupiter. The planet orbits it's sun in 26 hours completing a year

The most amazing part is gravity !!

The gravity is about 10 million times stronger then on Earth

Weird part is it comes from it's sun !!!

I don't want to know how many years old I'd be if a year is only 26 hours long? But how long does it take for a 170 pound human body to vaporize at 4000 degrees F? So I wouldn't have to worry about it for long!

I think you misread the part about 10 million times stronger, they were talking about tidal forces, not gravity:

"Whereas tidal force on the Earth leads to a few meter changes in the height of the ocean surface, that on WASP-12b is 10 million times larger," said researcher Shu-lin Li, an astrophysicist at Peking University in Beijing.

The tidal force on Earth is mostly from the moon. You could put a larger moon in orbit around the Earth, say twice as big, and it would double the tidal forces, but it wouldn't change the gravity on Earth (it might change by a tiny amount but it certainly wouldn't double).

That's a fascinating story! But not really all that bizarre. What I've noticed is that there are a lot of gas giants like that orbiting close to their own sun, which kind of throws our theories about our solar system being typical with rocky planets forming in the inner solar system, and gas giants forming in the outer solar system, out the window. So that makes it a lot harder for us to estimate how many rocky-Earth like planets could be orbiting stars out there if our solar system is not typical.

reply to post by Arbitrageur

I think you misread the part about 10 million times stronger, they were talking about tidal forces, not gravity:

Yes. Now would you then please explain to me, What is causing these tidal forces in the first place. ? And size IMO Tells you nothing about an object's mass. Don't you agree ?

reply to post by Sinter Klaas


I'm sorry mate I think you completely misread this article.

Firstly, it is 3.6 times the diameter of Jupiter but only 1.4 times as heavy indicating it is less dense. Since gravity depends on the mass of an object and the distance to it's centre, it's gravity is probably only a few times that of our beloved Earth.

If you read the last part it says that they suspect there is a "super Earth" maybe 5 - 10 times the mass of Earth causing tidal forces much like our moon does.

When you combine this relatively low gravity with huge tidal forces created by it's sun and "super Earth" (this planet's moon) what you get is such a high variation that it loses some of it's atmosphere at "high tide" hence the "death march" as it gets smaller and smaller.

Originally posted by Sinter Klaas
reply to post by Arbitrageur

 

I think you misread the part about 10 million times stronger, they were talking about tidal forces, not gravity:

Yes. Now would you then please explain to me, What is causing these tidal forces in the first place. ? And size IMO Tells you nothing about an object's mass. Don't you agree ?

Well I partially agree and partially disagree that size tells you nothing about an objects mass. Actually there is a formula in physics that related the size of an object to its mass, it's called the density formula. So that formula proves there is a relationship. But I think the point you were trying to make was that the density can vary, and yes it can, for example the density is very low in the story you cited.

And yes the tidal forces are the result of gravitational attraction but I still think it's more accurate to say what the article stated, that the tidal forces are 10 million times stronger.

But it's a good article, thanks for sharing it! Star and flag.

If I remember correctly, WASP 12B is a "Puffy Planet". EDIT- Just looked it up and its actually WASP 17-B that is puffy. its interesting to note that the star that is eating is pretty much the same size as sol, our sun. It can be inferred that there are some Crazy Strong forces at work here. Yes, the star is pulling the planet apart, but what I want to know is are there any observable effects from the planet acting on the star itself?

also, how does a planet that big last long enough to get THAT CLOSE to the star? the only thing that makes sense is if it was deflated and only recently "Inflated to its current size due to the heat. Since it was discovered only recently (Galactic-ly speaking that is) we will never know what or better yet "Where" it was before its current location.

reply to post by Arbitrageur And to OZtracized.



I understood from the article, the gravity is coming from the sun.
The planet is being eaten a life and roasted.

This is the only time I wrote about Jupiter and only to explain the other planet ! People know about Jupiter and they can relate to it.

I just read about a planet 1.4 times The mass of Jupiter.

The star has a gravitational pull and this is ingesting the planet.

The researchers predict this gas is flowing toward the host star, forming a tenuous disk that should emit heat detectable by the Hubble or Spitzer Space Telescopes.
They also calculate that an as-yet unseen planet roughly 5 to 10 times Earth's mass — a "super-Earth" — might be influencing WASP-12b's orbit.

The gravity of an alien star is causing its planet to unwind, research now reveals.

The tidal force is mentioned only as an example for explaining what happens.


As much as I enjoy replies, stars and flags.
I'm convinced you both did not read the article or maybe just skimmed through it
Accusing me for not being able to understand what I read.

Very disappointing !
Now please ! read it again.

Originally posted by drsmooth23
but what I want to know is are there any observable effects from the planet acting on the star itself?

From the article I posted.
The researchers predict this gas is flowing toward the host star, forming a tenuous disk that should emit heat detectable by the Hubble or Spitzer Space Telescopes.

also, how does a planet that big last long enough to get THAT CLOSE to the star? the only thing that makes sense is if it was deflated and only recently "Inflated to its current size due to the heat. Since it was discovered only recently (Galactic-ly speaking that is) we will never know what or better yet "Where" it was before its current location.

Also from the article.
Now scientists find the heat from the star is not enough to explain the planet's inflated size. Instead, the gravity of the star appears responsible.

Maybe you read a different article ?
My link was named enjoy


In the OP on the bottom of the text.

reply to post by Sinter Klaas


oh no, I read the article, but Heres what im having trouble with. they say that it is the GRAVITY which is causing the expansion? I find that near impossible to be true (at least with my limited understanding of gravity)

the closer a planet is to the sun (along with other variables) the stronger its gravity is. a Planet that is far away from is "parent" has low gravity. How could the gravity on this planet be so seemingly infinitely strong, yet allow for expansion?!?! Strong gravity means the masss of the planet SHOULD be more compact, not less....

to me, this article is saying that the LAWS OF PHYSICS are doing the opposite of what is taken as fact for every other point in the universe. Its like this planet has its very own laws which are not meshing up with what science has always told us.

I would imagine its the Tidal forces. At the heat of this planet, It could be that the Atmosphere of the planet is acting alot like our ocean, and it could be that the gas in the atmosphere is experiencing MASSIVE waves, much like our waves in earth oceans, and its size is bloated and quite possibly changing and in a constant state of influx.

reply to post by drsmooth23


I think it says it is the gravity of the sun pulling it apart not it's own.

The tidal waves are an example, because our sun and moon have the same effect on Earth.
The effect in the article is only 10. 000.000 times stronger do to the sun's gravity.

reply to post by Sinter Klaas


I guess that makes little more sense, but I would think it would cause the planet to become oblonged to an observable extent. guess we will need to keep our eye on this one for the next few hundred years because I would think its on the absolute threshold of what a planet can handle before becoming obliterated in some fashion.

reply to post by drsmooth23


Yes indeed

And of course to be thankful it isn't happening in our solar system.
I'll keep my eye on new intel

Originally posted by Sinter Klaas
reply to post by drsmooth23

 

I think it says it is the gravity of the sun pulling it apart not it's own.

The tidal waves are an example, because our sun and moon have the same effect on Earth.
The effect in the article is only 10. 000.000 times stronger do to the sun's gravity.

Bingo!

That's the clarification that wasn't apparent in your OP, you got it!

That's why I said calling it tidal force was more accurate, since the common usage of gravity refers to the planets own gravity, but the tidal forces are caused by gravity too, it's just that we commonly refer to them as tidal forces and not gravity. That was my point, which you just agreed with, so we're on the same page now! Thanks.

Originally posted by Arbitrageur

Originally posted by Sinter Klaas
[
I think it says it is the gravity of the sun pulling it apart not it's own.

The tidal waves are an example, because our sun and moon have the same effect on Earth.
The effect in the article is only 10. 000.000 times stronger do to the sun's gravity.

That's the clarification that wasn't apparent in your OP, you got it!

That's why I said calling it tidal force was more accurate, since the common usage of gravity refers to the planets own gravity, but the tidal forces are caused by gravity too, it's just that we commonly refer to them as tidal forces and not gravity. That was my point, which you just agreed with, so we're on the same page now! Thanks.

Great ! Thanks.

I thought you were just bashing me. I didn't see a test of some kind, you know.

Anyway.