Astronomers watched a planet vanish in space. Now they know why.
NASA's TESS watched a distant hot Jupiter-size planet disappear after seven years of observations. Astronomers work to solve the mystery.
For seven years, NASA's TESS telescope watched the planet TOI-2535 b transiting in front of its star, but one day it vanished. The planet, a hot Jupiter, had been behaving strangely, arriving early or late during its transit and the crossings growing shorter and fainter. Astronomers were surprised when the planet stopped showing up.
The orbit of TOI-2535 b is tilting quickly, causing its transit to disappear. This is the most extreme case of two worlds pulling on each other's orbits. The research suggests giant planets may have ended up so close to their stars in a gentle, slow spiral. TOI-2535 b is about 1,000 light-years away and is similar to Jupiter, but orbits much closer to its star.
The planet was detected by the tiny decrease in starlight when it passed in front of it. NASA's TESS infers the presence of a planet by catching these fluctuations in starlight.
Written by urgent.news from Mashable's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
