details — Science and IT
It makes a complete revolution around the star in just 21 hours.
NASA scientists discovered a new exoplanet, which became the fourth representative of the “hot Neptune” class.
This was reported by the publication Space.
The planet, named TOI-3261 b, orbits very close to its star, making it one of the fastest. A year on it lasts less than one Earth day – only 21 hours. The planet was discovered using the TESS space telescope, which has been operating since 2018 and has discovered thousands of new exoplanets.
“Hot Neptunes” are an extremely rare class of planets. The first of them, LTT-9779 b, was discovered only in 2020. Later, two more were found – TOI-849 b and TOI-332 b.
Astronomers have discovered many super-Earth-class planets and “hot Jupiters,” but “hot Neptunes” are much rarer. According to new research, the reason for this is that the proximity to the star can destroy…
