An artistic concept of HD 29587 B a brown dwarf orbiting the star HD 29587, estimated to be about 55 Jupiter masses.
A super-Jupiter is an astronomical object that's more massive than the planet Jupiter. For example, companions at the planet–brown dwarf borderline have been called super-Jupiters, such as around the star Kappa Andromedae.[1]
By 2011 there were 180 known super-Jupiters, some hot, some cold.[2] Even though they weigh more than Jupiter, they remain about the same size as Jupiter up to 80 Jupiter masses.[2] This means that their surface gravity and density goes up proportionally with their mass.[2] The increased mass compresses the planet due to gravity, thus keeping it from being larger.[2] In comparison, somewhat lighter planets than Jupiter can be larger, so-called "puffy planets" (gas giants with a large diameter but low density).[3] An example of this may be the exoplanet HAT-P-1b with about half the mass of Jupiter but about 1.38 times larger diameter.[3]
Corot-3b, with a mass around 22 Jupiter masses,[4] is predicted to have an average density of 26.4 g/cm3, greater than osmium (22.6 g/cm3), the densest natural element under standard conditions. Extreme compression of matter inside it causes the high density, because it is likely composed mainly of hydrogen.[5] The surface gravity is also high, over 50 times that of Earth.[4]
In 2012, the super-Jupiter Kappa Andromedae b was imaged around the star Kappa Andromedae,[1] orbiting it about 1.8 times the distance at which Neptune orbits the Sun.[6]
See also[]
- Ice giant
- Super-Earth
- Extrasolar planet
- Red dwarf
- List of planet types
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Astronomers Directly Image Massive Star's 'Super-Jupiter'. NASA (19 November 2012). Retrieved on 26 June 2013.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 (2012) Exoplanets: Finding, Exploring, and Understanding Alien Worlds, 167–168.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Chang, Kenneth, "Puzzling Puffy Planet, Less Dense Than Cork, Is Discovered", The New York Times, 2010-11-11.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Deleuil, M. (2008). "Transiting exoplanets from the CoRoT space mission. VI. CoRoT-Exo-3b: the first secure inhabitant of the brown-dwarf desert". Astronomy and Astrophysics 491 (3): 889–897. DOI:10.1051/0004-6361:200810625.
- ↑ (2003). "Evolutionary models for cool brown dwarfs and extrasolar giant planets. The case of HD 209458". Astronomy and Astrophysics 402 (2): 701–712. DOI:10.1051/0004-6361:20030252.
- ↑ Image of the "super-Jupiter" Kappa Andromedae b. NASA/JPL (19 November 2012). Retrieved on 26 June 2013.
Further reading[]
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