New Planet Orbits Backwards

[RandomAnthony]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32391095/...

This would be a good premise for a kids' book about a planet that orbits backward but somehow saves the day after all the other planets mock her.

[Knarik]

I read this last night. It really is interesting. It must be hard for our arrogant Earth to realize others can have something special, too.

[Jackie "the Librarian"]

WASP-17 is about half the mass of Jupiter but bloated to twice its size. "This planet is only as dense as expanded polystyrene, 70 times less dense than the planet we're standing on," said professor Coel Hellier of Keele University.

The bloated planet can be explained by a highly elliptical orbit, which brings it close to the star and then far away. Like exaggerated tides on Earth, the tidal effects on WASP-17 heat and stretch the planet, the researchers suggest.

The tides are not a daily affair, however. "Instead it's creating a huge amount of friction on the inside of the planet and generating a lot of energy, which might be making the planet big and puffy," Seager said.

Well, who WOULDN'T mock a bloated, puffy, backwards planet? I'm picturing a kid in one of those big down jackets that make you look like the Michelin man, an orange one...

[Jackie "the Librarian"]

Hahahaha!!! Yes! Love the squeaky sound effects, Bun! :D

[Jackie "the Librarian"]

Cartman?

[Sally, la reina]

I'm imagining Julia Stiles at the beginning of Save the Last Dance. Doesn't she have a big puffy orange coat on when she enters that public school the first time?

[smetchie]

I'm not fat! It's just that my orbit is backwards!