[whataretheysaying] Mary Madigan: Puffy planets..

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Posted by Mary Madigan:
Puffy planets..
http://whataretheysaying.powerblogs.com/posts/1186427387.shtml


   Via [1]Space.com

     The largest planet ever discovered is also one of the strangest and
     theoretically should not even exist, scientists say.

     Dubbed TrES-4, the planet is about 1.7 times the size of Jupiter
     and belongs to a small subclass of "puffy" planets that have
     extremely low densities. The finding will be detailed in an
     upcoming issue of Astrophysical Journal.

     "Its mean density is only about 0.2 grams per cubic centimeter, or
     about the density of balsa wood," said study leader Georgi
     Mandushev of the Lowell Observatory in Arizona. "And because of the
     planet's relatively weak pull on its upper atmosphere, some of the
     atmosphere probably escapes in a comet-like tail."

     The planet's large mass-to-density ratio makes it an anomaly among
     known exoplanets, and its existence cannot be explained by current
     models.

   Maybe the current models are wrong..?

References

   1. http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/20070806/sc_space/largestknownexoplanetdiscovered