NASA's TESS discovers 2 Jupiter-sized super-puff planets 1,110 light-years away
Astronomers just spotted two giant "super-puff" planets that are actually lighter than cotton candy.
These Jupiter-sized worlds, found 1,110 light-years away in the Volans constellation, have densities closer to shaving foam, making them the fluffiest planets of their size yet discovered.
NASA's TESS satellite made the find, and telescopes on Earth helped confirm their unusual properties.
Rare super-puffs likely hydrogen helium giants
Super-puffs are super rare: fewer than 40 out of nearly 6,300 known exoplanets fit this category.
They are probably mostly made of hydrogen and helium, and might look white or blue depending on their atmospheres.
Scientists think they formed in gas-rich disks around young stars and lost material over time, which made them even fluffier.
Studying these planets helps us understand how gas giants like Jupiter, which is up to 35 times denser, form and change.