CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Astronomers have spotted a new kind of planet: a Neptune-sized world sitting scorchingly close to its star. It could be in the midst of transforming from a hot, puffy gas giant to a naked rocky core, astronomer James Jenkins reported July 29 at the TESS Science Conference at MIT.
“This planet is amazing. It’s the first of its kind,” says astronomer Elisabeth Adams of the Planetary Science Institute, who is based in Somerville, Mass. Adams studies larger planets that orbit close to their stars, but wasn’t involved in the discovery.