New Planet is Hot Find

"Hottest Planet Ever Discovered"
Space.com (October 16, 2008)

"In the hunt for extrasolar planets, a new find is shattering records left and right.

"A planet called WASP-12b is the hottest planet ever discovered (about 4,000 degrees Fahrenheit, or 2,200 degrees Celsius), and orbits its star faster and closer in than any other known world...."

"...The planet, which orbits a star 870 light years from Earth, is especially notable because it pushes the bounds of how close planets can ever come to their stars without being destroyed...."

WASP-12b is exciting for people who study how planets are formed, because it is an extreme case. Any theory of planet formation now has to allow the existence of something one and a half times the mass of Jupiter, orbiting that close to the star.

And, information from study of WASP-12b will add to the store of facts that can be used to form or refine those theories.

WASP stands for Wide Area Search for Planets.

More, at "SCIENTISTS DISCOVER 10 NEW PLANETS OUTSIDE SOLAR SYSTEM –– REVOLUTIONIZES UNDERSTANDING OF EXTRA SOLAR PLANETS"
Press Release
University of California, Santa Barbara (April 1, 2008)