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WASP-18 b, seen in an artist’s concept, is a gas giant exoplanet 10 times more massive than Jupiter that orbits its star in just 23 hours. Researchers used NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope to study the planet as it moved behind its star. Temperatures there reach 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit (2,700 °C). Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech (K. Miller/IPAC) *********************************************************** Using the James Webb Space Telescope, scientists have created the first detailed temperature map of exoplanet WASP-18 b, and identified water vapor in its extremely hot atmosphere. These findings are providing valuable insights into the planet’s formation, suggesting it likely emerged from the leftover...

WASHINGTON — Astronomers have found what appears to be a gigantic suicidal planet. The odd, fiery planet is so close to its star and so large that it is triggering tremendous plasma tides on the star. Those powerful tides are in turn warping the planet's zippy less-than-a-day orbit around its star. The result: an ever-closer tango of death, with the planet eventually spiraling into the star. It is a slow death. The planet WASP-18b has maybe a million years to live, said planet discoverer Coel Hellier, a professor of astrophysics at Keele University in England. Hellier's report on the suicidal...