The biggest alien planet found so far is baffling scientists with properties that defy current scientific explanation.
By all rights, TrES-4, a gas giant recently discovered about 1,400 light-years away in the constellation Hercules, shouldn't exist.
The planet's size is much larger than predicted for its mass, said Georgi Mandushev of Lowell Observatory, lead author of a new study on the exoplanet.
Though 70 percent bigger than Jupiter, TrES-4 contains only three-quarters of the red giant's mass. (Related: "First Proof of Wet 'Hot Jupiter' Outside Solar System" [July 11, 2007].)
That means the alien planet is about as dense as balsa wood or cork, said Mandushev, who is part of a planet-hunting team known as the Trans-Atlantic Exoplanet Survey.
"At this point the most valuable thing about this study is it presents a challenge to our theoretical models," Mandushev said. "Most advances in science come from confrontations just like this one."
Source: news.nationalgeographic.com
Tags: ALIEN | biggest | constellation Hercules | discovered | Earthlike | exoplanet | Georgi Mandushev | GIANT | JUPITER | largest | light-years | Lowell Observatory | planet-hunting | scientific explanation | Trans-Atlantic Exoplanet Survey
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