Astronomers using NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) have uncovered the tumultuous history of a distant, hellishly hot exoplanet that's being stretched and scorched by its star.
The planet, known as WASP-121b, is locked in a dangerously close orbit around a star roughly 900 light-years away that's brighter and hotter than our sun. Locked in a blistering 30-hour orbit, the world lies so close to its star that intense tidal forces have warped it into a football-like shape, leaving it on the verge of being torn apart by gravity. One side of the planet faces its star permanently, baking at temperatures over 3,000°C (5,400°F) — hot enough for it to rain liquid iron. Even the opposite hemisphere, locked in eternal night, simmers at 1,500°C (2,700°F). This extreme environment makes WASP-121b one of the most hostile planets ever observed, and a valuable target for planetary science.
