Produced by: Mohsin Shaikh
TOI-3261 b defies the odds as a “hot Neptune,” orbiting its star in just 21 hours while enduring harsh radiation and gravitational forces that strip most planets of their atmospheres.
Identified by NASA’s TESS and confirmed with ground-based telescopes, TOI-3261 b joins a rare class of ultra-short-period hot Neptunes, with precise measurements of its mass and density.
Over 6.5 billion years, photoevaporation and tidal stripping eroded TOI-3261 b’s atmosphere, leaving behind a denser core and a thinner, heavier gaseous layer.
Scientists theorize that TOI-3261 b likely formed farther from its star in a cooler zone and later migrated inward, exposing it to the extreme forces that transformed its structure.
The “hot Neptune desert” is a region where planets like TOI-3261 b are scarce due to their struggle to retain atmospheres under extreme stellar conditions, making this discovery unique.
Representative pic
TOI-3261 b joins only three other precisely measured hot Neptunes, including LTT-9779 b and TOI-849 b, placing it in an elite and scientifically valuable category.
NASA aims to use the James Webb Space Telescope to analyze TOI-3261 b’s remaining atmosphere, potentially revealing its chemical composition and evolutionary history.
The discovery challenges existing planetary formation theories, suggesting gas giants can survive extreme conditions and evolve differently from previously understood models.
TOI-3261 b offers an unprecedented opportunity to refine planetary evolution models, study extreme atmospheres, and understand the survival mechanisms of gas giants in harsh environments.
representative pic