The planet has a mass and size of about 0.14 and 1.5 Jupiter masses, respectively.
An international team of astronomers has discovered a giant planet WASP-193b with an abnormally low density.
WASP-193b was classified as a super-puff planet (super-puffs), which has an extremely low density, which is comparable to the density of cotton candy. Such density cannot be reproduced by standard models of gas giants that are near their parent stars, even under the unrealistic assumption of an internal structure devoid of a core.
Based on the observational results, WASP-193b has a mass and size of about 0.14 and 1.5 the mass and size of Jupiter, respectively. Thus, the resulting density is about 0.059 grams per cubic centimeter.
The density of Jupiter counts about 1.33 grams per cubic centimeter, Earth - 5.51, and cotton candy - 0.06.
Scientists hypothesize that the planet is composed mostly of hydrogen and helium, like most other gas giants. It has a bloated atmosphere that extends tens of thousands of kilometers beyond Jupiter's atmosphere. This requires a significant release of energy in the interior of the planet, but the mechanism has not yet been studied, writes the journal Nature Astronomy.