This Planet Is the Shape of a Lemon. That May Be the Least Weird Thing about It

"Astronomers have discovered a bizarre lemon-shaped exoplanet orbiting a dense, rapidly spinning dead star. But those details are perhaps the least weird thing about it. Using the James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers found that the planet's atmosphere is enriched in carbonbut devoid of nitrogen and oxygen. That matters because everywhere in the universe, where there's carbon, there tends to be nitrogen and oxygen, says Michael Zhang, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Chicago"

"Dubbed PSR J2322-2650b, the Jupiter-mass gas giant planet orbits a kind of small, dense star known as a pulsar, which pulses jets of electromagnetic radiation from its poles at regular intervalsmuch like a lighthouse beams out light. When Zhang and his colleagues observed the so-called emission spectrum of the planet's atmosphere, they found wavelengths that corresponded with molecular carbon, which they believe could also be at the planet's core in the form of diamonds."

A Jupiter-mass gas giant, PSR J2322-2650b, orbits a dense, rapidly spinning pulsar and is tidally distorted into a pronounced lemon shape. Observations with the James Webb Space Telescope reveal an atmosphere enriched in carbon but apparently devoid of detectable nitrogen and oxygen. The planet's emission spectrum exhibits wavelengths matching molecular carbon, suggesting carbon-rich chemistry and the possibility of substantial carbon at depth, potentially including diamond-like material at the core. The pulsar's strong gravity and close proximity explain the planet's distortion. The planet's formation and survival in such an extreme environment remain unexplained.

Read at www.scientificamerican.com