The core mass of the giant exoplanet WASP-107b is much lower than what was thought necessary to build up the immense gas envelope surrounding giant planets like Jupiter and Saturn, a Canadian-led team of astronomers has found.
The core mass of the giant exoplanet WASP-107b is much lower than what was thought necessary to build up the immense gas envelope surrounding giant planets like Jupiter and Saturn, a Canadian-led team of astronomers has found.
This intriguing discovery by Ph.D. student Caroline Piaulet of Université de Montréal's Institute for Research on Exoplanets (iREx) suggests that gas-giant planets form a lot more easily than previously believed.
Piaulet is part of the groundbreaking research team of UdeM astrophysics professor Björn Benneke that in 2019 announced the first detection of water on an exoplanet located in its star’s habitable zone.
Read more at: University of Montreal
Artistic rendition of the exoplanet WASP-107b and its star, WASP-107. Some of the star's light streams through the exoplanet's extended gas layer. (Photo Credit: ESA/Hubble, NASA, M. Kornmesser)
