Take, for example, the exoplanet known as WASP-103b. Its a big planet with a mass about 1.5 times that of Jupiter, but 103b is so close to its star it makes a total orbit every 22 hours.
Every time the planet passes between us and its star, we observe a little dip in the stars brightness. The shape of that dip over time, known as a light curve, can tell us about the size and shape of the world.
Light curve for a transit of WASP-103b. They discovered that WASP-103b isnt round, or even rotationally flattened a bit like Jupiter. Its crushed by the tidal forces of its star into a shape approximately like that of a rugby ball.
If its 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 figure out the rigidness of our world. You can do this with other worlds as well, consisting of WASP-103b.
Measuring the size and shape of WASP-103b. Credit: ESA.
From the Love numbers, the team identified WASP-103b has a rigidness comparable to that of Jupiter. Since its 50% more huge than Jupiter, we would anticipate it to be more rigid. So 103b should be inflated a bit, possibly through being highly heated by its star.
Since this world orbits so near its star, we would anticipate its orbit to be gradually decaying. The tidal forces ought to be triggering the world to move ever so closer to the star with each orbit. However this doesnt appear to be taking place. In reality, observations by the group program that its orbital duration seems to be increasing, which recommends the world is really moving far from its star. Its not clear why this is, however it could be due to another world, or that its in a differing elliptical orbit.
Future observations by telescopes such as the James Webb Space Telescope will be much more precise and ought to allow us to resolve this secret. They should also help us better comprehend the structure “hot Jupiters,” which are very typical in planetary systems.
Recommendation: Barros, S. C. C., et al. “Detection of the tidal contortion of WASP-103b at 3-sigma with CHEOPS.” Astronomy & & Astrophysics 657 (2022 ): A52.
Reference: Love, Augustus Edward Hough. Series A, Containing Papers of a Mathematical and Physical Character 82.551 (1909 ): 73-88.
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Its a big world with a mass about 1.5 times that of Jupiter, however 103b is so close to its star it makes a complete orbit every 22 hours. Every time the world passes between us and its star, we observe a little dip in the stars brightness. Since this planet orbits so close to its star, we would anticipate its orbit to be slowly decomposing. The tidal forces must be triggering the world to move ever so closer to the star with each orbit. Observations by the team program that its orbital period appears to be increasing, which suggests the world is in fact moving away from its star.