
Launched in September 2021, CUTE has focused its ultraviolet capabilities on several hot Jupiters to better understand the atmospheric escape that occurs on these worlds since they orbit so close to their parent stars.
tiny telescope called CUTE has revealed secrets about hot Jupiters. The telescope has provided precise measurements of the atmospheres of these large and puffy planets.
CUTE has identified that the atmosphere of WASP-189b is escaping at a rate of 400 million kilograms per second. This is due to its surface temperatures of around 15,000 degrees Fahrenheit.
Hot Jupiters are planets that are similar in mass to Jupiter, but orbit very close to their stars. The prevailing theory is that hot Jupiters formed in the outer solar system and migrated inward to their current orbit.
Hot Jupiters are the easiest extrasolar planets to detect using the radial-velocity method. This is because they are more massive and closer to their stars than other planets, which causes larger gravitational perturbations to their host stars. These perturbations result in a larger Doppler signal.
Hot Jupiters are also the most easily-detected exoplanets because they orbit so rapidly and are so close to their stars. This means they transit often and cause a relatively large dip in starlight when they do.
Astronomers have also used the Hubble Space Telescope to study 25 hot Jupiters. The research team combined two techniques: studying information from transits (where the planet passes in front of its star) and eclipses (when the planet passes behind its star).
Hot Jupiters are gas giants that orbit very close to their stars. They have some characteristics in common, including:
- Mass: They have large masses, ranging from 0.36–11.8 Jupiter masses.
- Orbital period: They have short orbital periods, ranging from 1.3–111 Earth days.
- Orbit: Most have nearly circular orbits, with low eccentricities.
- Density: Many have unusually low densities.
- Temperature: Their atmospheres are very exotic, with temperatures of a thousand to several thousand Kelvin. At these temperatures, these planets could have clouds of molten rock.
- Year: A “year” on a typical hot Jupiter lasts hours, or at most a few days.
Hot Jupiters are fascinating because of their extreme environments and their unknown origins.
Hot Jupiters are named for their close proximity to their stars and high surface-atmosphere temperatures. The first hot Jupiter discovered was about the same size and shape as Jupiter, but it’s about 20 times closer to its star than Earth is to the sun. This causes the planet to reach temperatures of thousands of degrees Celsius.
Hot Jupiters are a subclass of gas giant exoplanets. They are among the first exoplanet types found, but they are also the rarest type of exoplanet found in our galaxy
There are a few theories about how hot Jupiters got their close orbits:
- Formation Some say hot Jupiters formed closer to their stars than Jupiter. Others say they formed farther out, but migrated inward due to interactions with other planets or the disk itself.
- Gravity One theory is that the strong gravity of their stars pulled them in close. Another theory is that the gravitational influences from nearby stars or planets drove them into closer orbits.
- Gas disks Some say hot Jupiters may have had their orbit altered slowly over time by gas disks or plantesimals, small solid bodies within gas disks.
Hot Jupiters are so close to their parent star that their orbital radii usually have values of about 0.1 astronomical units (AU). Comparatively, the average distance between Mercury and the Sun is 0.4 AU.
In the migration hypothesis, a hot Jupiter forms beyond the frost line, from rock, ice, and gases via the core accretion method of planetary formation. The planet then migrates inwards to the star where it eventually forms a stable orbit. The planet may have migrated inward smoothly via type II orbital migration
CUTE is an acronym for Colorado Ultraviolet Transit Experiment. CUTE is a 6U CubeSat mission that monitors hot Jupiters to study their atmospheric mass loss and magnetic fields.
Here are some other types of telescopes:
- Monocular: A compact refracting telescope that uses an optical prism to magnify distant objects.
- Spyglass: A small telescope that allows the user to see faraway objects with more detail and clarity.
- Telescopette: A small telescope.
Telescopes can also be categorized into three types:
- Refractors: Use lenses to bend light into focus.
- Reflectors: Use mirrors that reflect light into focus.
- Catadioptric or compound scopes: Use a combination of both lenses and mirrors.
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