WASP-12b is an HUGE planet that orbits extremely closely to its star. Due to the close distance (at 1/44 the distance compared to the distance between Earth and the Sun), WASP-12b has a very low densities from the flux of energy from the star and is being distorted into an egg shape. The most interesting thing is that its star is consuming WASP-12b’s atmosphere at 189 quardrillion tonnes per year.
Aleph-null Universe 
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Interesting! Do you know the total mass of the planet? That would really put into perspective how quickly its going to be consumed. Also, you should read up on Type Ia supernovae. They’re a result of the same process happening in a binary star system! One of the stars is a white dwarf, and accretes mass from its partner star; eventually it reaches the Chandrasekhar limit, causing a Type Ia supernova.
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This is really cool! I wonder how this planet was able to form so close to its star. Are there projections for when WASP-12b’s atmosphere will be completely consumed?
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This is so neat! Conventionally, we think of planets as nearly circular. The way that planets are formed also tells us that they must always be nearly circular as well, but this just shows that this doesn’t always have to hold true! Also, such a large planet so close to the star is an anomaly in itself. I wonder if maybe the distance between the two used to be smaller, but something knocked the planet closer?
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