Planets approximately the size of Jupiter orbiting close to their star in other systems are often referred to as "Hot Jupiters." It would appear that a new classification is required: Very Hot and Very Fast Jupiters. WASP-12b is an exoplanet, about 50% more massive than Jupiter, orbiting a star (imaginatively called WASP-12) over 800 light years away, but it isn't any ordinary exoplanet. It orbits its host star 1/40th of the distance at which the Earth orbits the Sun and it takes a breathtaking one day to complete one orbit. As a consequence, its host star heats WASP-12b to record-breaking temperatures; the planet is being toasted up to 2250 °C. For an exoplanet of this size, to be orbiting so close to a star has caused a stir amongst planet hunters. WASP-12b is and oddity, there's nothing else like it… so far.From an RPG perspective, this and other close to their star gas giants is interesting because the rules systems in sci-fi games to generate a solar system randomly all assume gas giants are only present in the outer solar system. I wonder when those systems will be updated. The original Traveller planet generator was eventually updated with newer data as well as the GURPS Space planet generation rules.
Traveller Software
GURPS software
No comments:
Post a Comment