Two ‘Super-Puff’ Planets Lighter Than Candy Candy Discovered by Researchers
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Two ‘Super-Puff’ Planets Lighter Than Candy Candy Discovered by Researchers
Astronomers Find Two Giant Planets So ‘Fluffy’ They Are Lighter Than Candy Floss
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Two ‘super-puff’ planets lighter than candy candy have been discovered by scientists—and they’re bigger than Jupiter.
They are among the lowest-density giant planets ever detected, according to a new study. The two planets orbit a dwarf star located around 1,110 light years from Earth in the southern constellation of Volans. Although both planets—named TOI-791b and TOI-791c—are around the size of Jupiter, researchers say they are “extraordinarily” diffuse.
Jupiter’s density is 1.33 grams per cubic centimeter, while TOI-791b has a density of just 0.038 grams per cubic cm, and TOI-791c’s density is just 0.047—that’s 28 to 35 times lighter. The new planets’ densities are even lower than cotton candy, which typically has a density of about 0.05 grams per cubic centimeter. In contrast, Earth’s density is 5.5 grams per cubic centimeter, according to the study published in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, led by University of Oxford scientists working with researchers from the University of Birmingham and the Université Côte d’Azur in France.
The planets are “siblings” believed to have formed together from the same disc of gas and dust surrounding their young star. They are also locked in a rare gravitational relationship known as a 5:3 mean-motion resonance, meaning that for every five orbits completed by the inner planet, the outer planet completes almost exactly three. The research team says that gravitational interaction causes the planets to repeatedly “tug” on one another, producing measurable shifts in the timing of their transits across the host star.
How 🔬 ZME Science Covers It
Facebook X LinkedIn Reddit WhatsApp Flipboard Bluesky Email Copy Link Home → Science → News In space, sometimes the lightest things carry the heaviest clues. There are planets that make Earth look small. And then there are planets like TOI-791 b and TOI-791 c; two enormous worlds roughly the size of Jupiter, so light and airy that, by density, they are fluffier than candy floss.
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- Ask your child: “What do you think scientists discovered about superpuff planets? What part surprised you most?”
- Explore together: Search for “superpuff planets” on NASA Kids’ Club, DK Find Out, or National Geographic Kids for more kid-friendly facts.
- Critical thinking: Science findings can change as more research is done. Ask: “How would scientists test this? What would prove them wrong?”
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