KELT-9
system
KELT-9 — a hot, blue-white A-type star ~667 light-years away in Cygnus, host to the HOTTEST known planet: KELT-9 b, whose dayside reaches ~4,300°C — hotter than many stars. So fierce is the heat that molecules are torn apart and the planet's atmosphere is boiling away. Descend to explore the ultimate hot Jupiter.
Open in 3D viewSee KELT-9 in the live, interactive 3D map
Science
Classification
- Type
- Planetary system
- Distance
- ~667 light-years · its real distance from the Sun
- Explore
- Descend to see the star and its confirmed planets
How we know
- Note
- A real star system, shown at its measured position in the galaxy. Its star and confirmed planets — their measured sizes and how each was found — are on the cards inside; descend to explore them. Distances follow Gaia parallax; planet data follow the NASA Exoplanet Archive.
Discovery & history
- Name
- A designation from the Kilodegree Extremely Little Telescope (KELT) survey (also HD 195689).
Announced in 2017, KELT-9 b orbits an unusually hot blue star, giving it a dayside hotter than some red dwarfs. Metals like iron and titanium have been detected vaporised in its atmosphere, which is streaming away under the relentless radiation — an extreme of what a planet can endure.
Images
Images from open archives · credit shown per image