Astronomers discover mysterious lemon-shaped exoplanet with NASA’s Webb telescope

House is stuffed with unsolved mysteries, and a crew utilizing NASA’s James Webb House Telescope have lately turned up a doozy. “I keep in mind after we bought the info down, our collective response was ‘What the heck is that this?’ It is extraordinarily completely different from what we anticipated,” said Peter Gao of the Carnegie Earth and Planets Laboratory in Washington, a co-author on the examine.

The researchers discovered an exoplanet dubbed PSR J2322-2650b that orbits a small, dense star emitting electromagnetic radiation often called a pulsar. They’re an instance of a black widow system, the place a quickly spinning pulsar is paired with a smaller astronomical physique. A black widow duo isn’t uncommon, however this pair has sparked questions on how the exoplanet initially shaped.

The exoplanet’s proximity to the pulsar and its intense gravitational pull have distorted it into an rectangular lemon form. Extra unusually, PSR J2322-2650b additionally has a singular ambiance comprised largely of helium and carbon. “As an alternative of discovering the conventional molecules we anticipate to see on an exoplanet — like water, methane, and carbon dioxide — we noticed molecular carbon,” principal investigator Michael Zhang of College of Chicago stated. Given its unusual ambiance, the crew is not sure how the exoplanet shaped. “It is very onerous to think about the way you get this extraordinarily carbon-enriched composition. It appears to rule out each identified formation mechanism,” Zhang stated. For now, we’ll chalk this up as one other thriller of the universe.