Some ‘superpuff’ exoplanets may actually be ringed worlds like Saturn
Some puzzling planets called superpuffs could be Saturns in disguise. These exoplanets appear very large given their masses, suggesting that they have densities like cotton candy. Astronomers have struggled to explain how these planets could have turned out so fluffy (SN: 11/30/15). “People had been thinking of complicated ways to explain these mysterious planets,” such as dust storms leaving a planet, says theoretical astrophysicist Anthony Piro of the Carnegie Observatories in Pasadena, Calif. Now, Piro and exoplanet scientist Shreyas Vissapragada of Caltech propose a simpler explanation. Instead of being outsized for their weight class, some superpuffs could sport wide rings that make the planets appear bigger than they really are, the researchers suggest February 28 in the Astronomical Journal. “This seemed like such a natural, kind of cute explanation,” Piro says. “We know of things like Saturn in our own solar system. Why can’t something like that exist in other solar systems as well?” The duo considered 10 known superpuffs...