![]() Could there be subclasses of hot Jupiters with different formation stories? For example, do these planets take shape far from their parent stars – at a distance where it’s cold enough for molecules such as water to become solid – or closer. Despite being the most studied type of exoplanet, major questions remain about how they form. Though not present in our own solar system, they appear to be common throughout the galaxy. Hot Jupiters are massive, gaseous worlds like Jupiter, that orbit closer to their parent stars than Mercury is to the Sun. ![]() The findings will potentially advance both the scientific understanding of how exoplanets form and evolve and give some context for planets in our own solar system. The researchers also suggest that the oval orbit, extremely high surface temperatures (2,000 degrees C- hot enough to vaporize rock) and “puffiness” of XO-3b reveal traces of the planet’s history. In a recent paper, a McGill-led research team, provides new insight into what seasons looks like on a planet outside our solar system. The eccentric orbit of the planet also leads to seasonal variations hundreds of times stronger than what we experience on Earth. That’s just one aspect of the atmosphere on XO-3b, one of a class of exoplanets (planets outside our solar system), known as hot Jupiters. Imagine being in a place where the winds are so strong that they move at the speed of sound. Observations of a hot Jupiter may also advance our understanding of planet origins and evolution. Planet XO-3b, a hot Jupiter on an eccentric orbit.
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