A team of astronomers from Japan and China has announced the discovery of a previously unknown Jupiter-like exoplanet. It orbits the star HD 167768, which will soon turn into a red giant.
HD 167768 is located 353 light-years from Earth. Like our Sun, it is a star of spectral class G. However, with a mass that is only 8% greater than the solar one, its radius exceeds the radius of the Sun by ten times. This suggests that HD 167768 has already begun to expand and will turn into a red giant in the relatively near future (by astronomical standards).
During measurements of the radial velocity of HD 167768, astronomers discovered deviations caused by the influence of gravity of its invisible companion. During the subsequent analysis, the researchers determined that they were caused by an object which mass is 85% of the mass of Jupiter. Its orbit passes at a distance of 0.15 AU (22 million km) from the surface of the star. Astronomers estimate that the equilibrium temperature of the newly discovered exoplanet exceeds 1600 °C. Such objects are classified as hot Jupiters.
The newly discovered exoplanet attracted the attention of researchers with its “doom”. Calculations show that over the next 150 million years, HD 167768 will expand so much that it will absorb it. The results of observations also indicate that there may be two more exoplanets in this system, having periods of rotation of 41 and 95 days, which in the future will also be destroyed by their home star. But this data needs additional verification.
Recall that recently the James Webb Space Telescope looked into the atmosphere of a giant exoplanet.
According to https://phys.org
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