Kepler-51 belongs to a class of giant worlds often referred to with whimsical names like “cotton candy planet” or “cloud planet.”
A research team led by Dr. Jessica Libby-Roberts from Pennsylvania State University (USA) has identified a completely new planet orbiting the Kepler-51 star, located approximately 2,615 light-years away in the Cygnus constellation.
Kepler-51 has been observed by NASA’s Kepler space telescope for a long time, revealing three large planets orbiting it.
Graphic depicting the Kepler-51 system with 4 cloud planets – (Image: NASA).
These are Kepler-51b, Kepler-51c, and Kepler-51d, all of which are classified as super-puffed planets with sizes comparable to Saturn.
Super-puffed planets are massive worlds but have very low mass and density. They consist of a small rocky core and an extremely thick atmosphere, primarily composed of hydrogen and helium.
Consequently, they are sometimes nicknamed “cloud planets” or “cotton candy planets.”
Now, scientists have decided to re-examine this system, comparing old Kepler data with observations from the more advanced James Webb telescope as well as several ground-based observatories.
The fourth planet, named Kepler-51e, has emerged, and it too is a giant cloud planet.
However, the “portrait” of this fourth planet remains unclear. The data suggests two different types of planets that Kepler-51e might belong to.
The first is a planet roughly the size of Saturn, orbiting its parent star with an orbital period of 264 Earth days.
The second is a planet with a size comparable to or near that of Jupiter, orbiting in an extremely wide orbit, which means one year there could be equivalent to ten years on Earth.
Nevertheless, the first hypothesis has more supporting evidence. If this is correct, Kepler-51e has an orbit slightly larger than that of Venus and lies just within the habitable zone of this stellar system.
Therefore, scientists indicate that they will continue to seek ways to observe it more clearly, as well as look for more similar planets in space, places that could potentially harbor extraterrestrial life that humanity has always sought.
