Extreme Tidal Forces Have Deformed an Exoplanet: by BrianKoberlein
Among the thousands of known exoplanets, there are some that are very odd. Take, for example, the exoplanet known as WASP-103b. It’s a large planet with a mass about 1.5 times that of Jupiter, but 103b is so close to its star it makes a complete orbit every 22 hours. At this proximity, many astronomers wonder if the world is on the edge of being ripped apart by tidal forces. But a new study shows us that something much more interesting is going on..
The Love numbers were first derived by Augustus Love for Earth in 1909. Imagine squishing something like a tennis ball in your hand. If the ball is stiff, you have to squeeze harder to make it deform. If it’s more elastic, the same force will deform the ball much more. Love showed that you can compare the forces applied to Earth with the nonspherical shape of Earth to determine the rigidity of our world. You can do this with other planets as well, including WASP-103b.
Because this planet orbits so close to its star, we would expect its orbit to be gradually decaying. The tidal forces should be causing the world to move ever so closer to the star with each orbit. But this doesn’t seem to be happening. In fact, observations by the team show that its orbital period seems to be increasing, which suggests the planet is actually moving away from its star. It’s not clear why this is, but it could be due to another planet, or that it’s in a varying elliptical orbit.
Future observations by telescopes such as the James Webb Space Telescope will be even more precise and should allow us to resolve this mystery. They should also help us better understand the composition “hot Jupiters,” which are very common in planetary systems.
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