9th May 2007
- HD 149026b is the smallest and densest known transiting planet
- It completes an orbit every 2.9 days
- It is about the size of Saturn
- One side permanently faces its star
- Its sunlit side is a scorching 2,038°C
- The night side is much colder
- There is no flow of heat to cooler regions
- It absorbs all the starlight that reaches its surface
- Its temperature is well off the temperature scale expected for planets
|