Planet WASP 12-b (named so, as it was discovered by the UK SuperWASP team – cool, I want to be in a team with a funky name like that too) is believed to be the closest orbiting planet to its star.
So close, it’s being devoured by it. A gas planet about 1.4 times the size of Jupiter, it has a mean surface temperature of 2,200°C and completes its orbit in just 1.1 days (just the thought make me dizzy). Due to its proximity, scientists believe that WASP 12-b is being boiled off and blown into space and creating a cloud of super heated gas around the planet. Estimates assume it will be ‘consumed’ in the next billion years.
That seems pretty slow to me – just compare that with the rate that humans are consuming this planet and we win hands down!
Sad, but oh so true
Marti