The unusual exoplanet is officially called NGTS-4b and was discovered in the brutal Neptunian Desert, a super-hot death zone in space. Planets orbiting so close to a star usually have no atmosphere, because it boils off due to radiation and heat. However the Forbidden Planet has retained its gaseous shroud, although it is unlikely to host alien life due to a temperature exceeding 1,000C. This means the nightmare world is hot enough bronze, aluminium and many other metals would simply melt if left on its surface.
The Forbidden planet smaller than Neptune and still three times larger than Earth.
The exoplanet was discovered after astronomers observed it passing in front of its star, a process known as transiting.
An exoplanet or extrasolar planet is a planet outside the Solar System.
The first evidence of an exoplanet was noted in 1917, but was not recognized as such. The first scientific detection of an exoplanet was in 1988; it was confirmed to be an exoplanet in 2012.
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When searching for new planets, astronomers look for a dip in the light of a star—this the planet orbiting it and blocking the light.
Usually only dips of one percent and more are picked up by ground-based searches, but the NGTS telescopes can pick up a dip of just 0.2 percent.
The Next-Generation Transit Survey (NGTS) is a ground-based robotic search for exoplanets.
The facility is located at Paranal Observatory in the Atacama desert in northern Chile, about 2 km from ESO’s Very Large Telescope and 0.5 km from the VISTA Survey Telescope.
Dr Richard West, from the Department of Physics at the University of Warwick, said: “This planet must be tough – it is right in the zone where we expected Neptune-sized planets could not survive.
“It is truly remarkable that we found a transiting planet via a star dimming by less than 0.2 percent – this has never been done before by telescopes on the ground, and it was great to find after working on this project for a year.
“We are now scouring out data to see if we can see any more planets in the Neptune Desert – perhaps the desert is greener than was once thought.”
Researchers believe the Forbidden Planet may have only shifted into the Neptunian Desert in the last one million years.
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Or another possiblity is NGTS-4b may have once been very far larger and the atmosphere is still evaporating.
The Neptunian Desert is the region close to stars where no Neptune-sized planets are found.
This “desert” area receives strong irradiation from the star, meaning the planets do not retain their gaseous atmosphere as they evaporate leaving just a rocky core.
Researchers at the University of Warwick remain uncertain why the planet defies logic and exists in its current location.
