Black planet 'swallowed' 94% of light

NASA discovered a giant gas planet that is black because it absorbs 94% of the light that hits the surface.

The Hubble Space Telescope of NASA discovered the strange planet WASP-12b is almost completely black, because it absorbs 94% of the light shining on the surface, the International Business Times reported on September 14. WASP-12b is located 1,400 light-years away. It belongs to a class of giant gas planets called "hot Jupiter" , which has orbits near the host star and is heated to extreme temperatures.

WASP-12b absorbs most of the light shining on the surface.(Photo: AFP).

Most molecules are on the daytime side of WASP-12b, where temperatures above 2,500 degrees Celsius, cannot last long. This means that clouds that help reflect light into space cannot form. Therefore, light penetrates deep into the surface of the planet, then is absorbed by hydrogen atoms and converted into energy.

"We do not expect to find such a dark outer planet. Most hot Jupiter reflects about 40% of starlight , " said Taylor Bell of McGill University, Canada.

According to Bell, scientists who have discovered many other hot Jupiter have significant black color, but they are much cooler than WASP-12b. For these planets, it is thought that clouds and alkaline metals are responsible for light absorption. However, these things do not work on WASP-12b because it is too hot.

WASP-12b is a tidal planet. Half of the planet is always daytime and the other half is always night. The temperature difference between the two sides is very large, about 1,000 degrees Celsius. The reason is that the WASP-12b is too close to the host star. It is so powerful by the gravity of the star that it is compressed into an egg shape.