Indian scientists discover alien planet, 13 times bigger than Jupiter

A team of scientists headed by Professor Abhijit Chakraborty of the Physical Research Laboratory (PRL) in Ahmedabad discovered the densest alien planet, 13 times the size of Jupiter. This is the third exoplanet identified by PRL scientists.

The findings of the study were published in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics Letters.

Scientists from India, Germany, Switzerland, and the United States used the indigenous PRL Advanced Radial-velocity Abu-sky Search spectrograph (PARAS) at Mt Abu's Gurushikhar Observatory to precisely determine the planet's mass. The exoplanet has a mass of 14 g/cm3.

The newly-discovered planet orbits a star known as TOI 4603 or HD 245134, which has previously been identified as a possible home for a secondary body of unknown type by Nasa's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS).

According to India Today, the object has now been identified as a planet and given the designation TOI 4603b or HD 245134b.

The planet is 731 light years away from Earth and orbits its star once every 7.24 days. The planet is hot, with a temperature of 1,396 degrees Celsius, the report said.

Meanwhile, Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) said this discovery is notable for falling into the transition mass region between massive giant planets and low-mass brown dwarfs.

The masses of these planets range from 11 to 16 times that of Jupiter, and there are currently only five exoplanets in this mass range known, Isro said.

While the search for life beyond Earth continues, scientists have discovered over 5,000 exoplanets with varying natures, features, and atmospheres beyond the solar system.

The recently discovered exoplanet TOI 4603b is one of the most massive and dense giant planets, orbiting its home star at a distance less than one-tenth that of our Sun.

"The detection of such systems provides valuable insights into the formation, migration, and evolution mechanisms of massive exoplanets," Isro added.