NGST-10b：劫难已定的行星

2020 February 26

NGST-10b: Discovery of a Doomed Planet
Illustration Credit: ESA, C. Carreau; Text: Alex R. Howe (NASA/USRA, Science Meets Fiction Blog)

Explanation: This hot jupiter is doomed. Hot jupiters are giant planets like Jupiter that orbit much closer to their parent stars than Mercury does to our Sun. But some hot jupiters are more extreme than others. NGTS-10b, illustrated generically, is the closest and fastest-orbiting giant planet yet discovered, circling its home star in only 18 hours. NGTS-10b is a little larger than Jupiter, but it orbits less than two times the diameter of its parent star away from the star’s surface. When a planet orbits this close, it is expected to spiral inward, pulled down by tidal forces to be eventually ripped apart by the star’s gravity. NGTS-10b, discovered by researchers at the University of Warwick, is named after the ESO’s Next Generation Transit Survey, which detected the imperiled planet when it passed in front of its star, blocking some of the light. Although the violent demise of NGTS-10b will happen eventually, we don’t yet know when.

Tomorrow’s picture: open space

NGST-10b：劫难已定的行星
图示提供: ESA , C. Carreau;文稿: Alex R. Howe ( NASA / USRA , Science Meets Fiction Blog)

说明: 这颗热类木星灭亡的宿命已定。热类木星是指大小和木星相当，但绕行其母星的轨道，比水星与太阳的距离还近的系外巨行星。在诸多的热类木星之中，有些更是极端。举例来说，NGTS-10b是截自目前所发现的，最靠近母星及轨道速率最快的巨行星，绕母星一圈只要18小时。NGTS-10b稍大于木星，但轨道离母星的表面不到母星直径的2倍。当行星的轨道如此密近时，在潮汐力的作用下，它预期会回旋掉向母星，最后会被母星的重力给扯碎。NGTS-10b是由英国华威大学的研究人员所发现，并以这颗行星凌星遮住部分母星星光时，侦测到它的欧南天文台．下世代凌星巡天计画（NGTS）为名。NGTS-10b 粉身碎骨的末日终究会降临，只是我们不知会在何时。（hot jupiters热类木星）

明日的图片: open space