LONDON, Jan. 17 (UPI) -- British astronomers say they've discovered the hottest planet ever found, circling a white-hot star 380 light-years away in the constellation Andromeda.
Until two decades ago, the hottest planet known was in our own solar system -- Venus, at a blistering 860 degrees Fahrenheit, AAAS ScienceMagazine.org reported this week. Then, astronomers looking outside our solar system began finding "hot Jupiters," giant worlds as hot as 1,800 F, orbiting close to distant stars.
In the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, astronomers have reported a record-breaker: WASP 33 b, circling its white-hot star every 29.28 hours.
Astronomers using the William Herschel Telescope in the Canary Islands were able to detect the planet's near-infrared glow and measured its temperature -- an impressive 5,700 F, making it, for now, the champion "hot spot" in the astronomers' planetary search.
