A lemon-shaped planet??
That’s what astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope have recently discovered circling a small, dense star. According to an article posted in mid-December on the Scientific American website, the odd-shaped “exoplanet,” named PSR J2322-2650b, is roughly the size of the planet Jupiter, featuring an elongated shape that resembles a lemon.
The exoplanet circles a small, dense star known as a pulsar. Researchers believe that the star’s proximate gravity was the key element that pulled the exoplanet into its current shape.
But the exoplanet’s shape is not the most intriguing thing about the discovery.
Instead, it’s that the exoplanet’s atmosphere is rich in carbon but contains no nitrogen or oxygen. According to the Scientific American article, when researchers observed the emission spectrum of the exoplanet’s atmosphere, they reportedly found wavelengths that aligned with molecular carbon. They also speculate that molecular carbon could be at the core of the planet in the form of diamonds!
The Scientific American article on the exoplanet discovery is available at https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/scientists-are-baffled-by-this-bizarre-lemon-shaped-exoplanet/.
