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A team of astronomers has discovered a rare planet called Kepler-432b that possesses extreme seasons different to Earth spring, summer, fall and winter, new research finds.
Researchers from Heidelberg University observed the celestial planet using the 2.2-meter telescope at Calar Alto Observatory in Andalucía, Spain and the Nordic Optical Telescope on La Palma (Canary Islands), writes Nature World News.
They found that Kepler-432b is one of the densest and most massive planets ever discovered and is about the same size as gas giant Jupiter, however it has six times the mass.
Kepler-432b is so interesting to scientists because of its unique shape and the size of its orbit around it giant host star.
"The majority of known planets moving around giant stars have large and circular orbits. With its small and highly elongated orbit, Kepler-432b is a real 'maverick' among planets of this type," Dr. Davide Gandolfi, a researcher who helped make the discovery, said in a statement.
Due to its abnormal orbit, Kepler-432b comes incredibly close to its host star at certain times, and moves very far away at others.
The ebb and flow of the orbit creates enormous temperature differences over the course of the planet's year, which equals 52 Earth-days.
"During the winter season, the temperature on Kepler-432b is roughly 500 degrees Celsius [932 degrees Fahrenheit]. In the short summer season, it can increase to nearly 1,000 degrees Celsius [1,832 Fahrenheit]," said astronomer Dr. Sabine Reffert, who was involved in the research.
However, astronomers won't be able to view this rare planet and its extreme seasons for long.
Kepler-432b's host star - known as a "red giant" - has already used up the nuclear fuel in its core and will continue to gradually expand until it consumes Kepler-432b.
The radius of the host star already four times that of our Sun and it is estimated that Kepler-432b will be swallowed up in less than 200 million years.
"The days of Kepler-432b are numbered," added researcher Mauricio Ortiz, who led one of the two studies of the planet.
"This might be the reason why we do not find other planets like Kepler-432b - astronomically speaking, their lives are extremely short."
