Jakarta –
There are so many planets in this universe, of all sizes. So, what biggest planet known so far?
Prior to 1992, when the first exoplanets were discovered, the gas giant Jupiter, which is about 11 times the width of Earth, held the title of the largest planet. But Jupiter pales in comparison to some of the monster planets discovered since.
As quoted detikINET from Live Science, there are two measurements considered when determining the size of a planet: its width (twice the radius) and its mass.
Measured against the former, the largest exoplanet has a radius about twice that of Jupiter. “This is an extreme object that orbits very close to its parent star,” said Solene Ulmer-Moll, an exoplanet researcher at the University of Geneva.
A planet’s width and mass are related, but there isn’t always a direct correlation. This is because planets differ in density, meaning some low-mass gas giants can ‘expand’ to larger sizes than other, heavier exoplanets.
For example, the gas giant HAT-P-67 b, with a radius about twice that of Jupiter, is currently one of the largest known planets in terms of width. But the planet, which is 1,200 light years from Earth, is so low density, that it only has about a third of the mass of Jupiter.
Wasp-17 b is also roughly twice as wide as Jupiter. The runner-up is KELT-9b, which has a radius 1.84 times that of Jupiter.
Most of the rocky planets never approach the size of the ‘super Jupiter’ as these planets. The largest rocky planet, called a super-Earth, is about twice as wide as Earth. “By comparison, Wasp-17b has a radius equivalent to 22 Earths,” said Ulmer-Moll.
The most massive planet is about 13 times the mass of Jupiter. This includes the gas giant HD 39091 b, which is located 60 light years from Earth, and has a mass about 12.3 times that of Jupiter.
Watch Video “Astronomers Repeatedly Get Repeated Radio Signals from Exoplanets”
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2023-08-19 15:00:48
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