The Doomed Planet Being Eaten Alive by Its Own Star: WASP-12b

Some planets are born into chaos. Others spend their final years revealing exactly how a planetary system works. WASP-twelve B is one of the strangest worlds ever studied. Orbiting its star from only a few million miles away, this enormous hot Jupiter completes an orbit in roughly twenty-six hours. But its year is getting shorter. Astronomers have measured the planet's orbital period changing by only a tiny fraction of a second each year. Over long periods, however, those small differences accumulate into something remarkable: evidence that the planet is gradually losing orbital energy as tidal forces act between the planet and its star. And the story becomes even stranger. WASP-twelve B is nearly twice Jupiter's radius, intensely heated, extremely dark in visible light, and stretched by the gravity of its nearby star. Its upper atmosphere extends far beyond the visible planet, with material escaping into the surrounding environment. By combining transit timing, secondary eclipses, atmospheric observations, phase curves, and measurements of the planet's changing shape, astronomers can study a world that is hundreds of light-years away as though its distant orbit were a clock. 🌌 But WASP-twelve B is more than a bizarre exoplanet. It offers a rare glimpse into planetary destruction, stellar tides, atmospheric escape, orbital evolution, and the temporary nature of planetary systems themselves. In this Snoozy Space documentary, we follow the evidence from the planet's shrinking year to the deeper question of what happens when a giant world can no longer remain where it is. Settle in, dim the lights, and let the universe unfold at its own pace. If you enjoy calm, science-driven journeys through strange worlds and distant cosmic events, consider leaving a like and subscribing to Snoozy Space. 🌙 Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/snoozy-space--7447041/support . This episode includes AI-generated content.