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SUPER-PUFF EXOPLANET
Astronomers Discover a ‘Super-Puff’ Planet That Defies Every Rule of Planetary Science
A cosmic rule-breaker orbiting 578 light-years away challenges our understanding of how planets form and survive
In the ever-expanding catalog of exoplanets, few worlds have puzzled astronomers quite like TOI-4507 b, a newly discovered planet that seems to defy every established rule of planetary formation and behavior. Located roughly 578 light-years from Earth, this alien world is not just strange, it’s anomalous, a cosmic outlier that challenges our very understanding of how planets form, evolve, and interact with their stars.
According to the research team that first identified it using NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), TOI-4507 b is both enormous and remarkably light — a paradox in planetary physics. It is nine times wider than Earth, yet only about 30 times Earth’s mass, meaning its density is extraordinarily low.
Imagine a world the size of Jupiter but so light and airy that it could almost float in a cosmic bathtub. That’s what scientists are calling a “super-puff” planet — a category so rare and peculiar that each discovery forces researchers to revisit long-held assumptions about…
