Meet WASP-12b, a planet unlike any other we’ve discovered. It’s not just orbiting its star—it’s being eaten alive by it. Every second, WASP-12b loses 6 billion tons of material, enough to fill 6,000 Olympic swimming pools. Scientists are witnessing a planetary catastrophe in real time, offering a glimpse into the ultimate fate of many worlds, including possibly our own.
A Giant in Peril
Located 1,200 light-years away, WASP-12b is a gas giant 40% larger than Jupiter. But its immense size isn’t the problem—it’s the heat. With a surface temperature of 4,700°F, it’s hot enough to vaporize titanium. The intense gravitational pull from its star has even deformed the planet, stretching it into an egg shape.
A Year in 26 Hours
WASP-12b orbits its star at an incredible speed, completing a full orbit in just 26 hours. To put that into perspective, a year on this planet is shorter than a single day on Earth. If it were placed in our solar system, it would be closer to the Sun than Mercury, practically hugging a furnace.
Gravity Gone Wild
The planet is being torn apart by extreme gravitational forces. The star pulls harder on the planet’s front than the back, creating immense tidal stresses. This constant stretching causes the planet’s atmosphere to boil away, forming a massive cloud of escaping gas. Every second, WASP-12b sheds enough mass to outweigh all of humanity 800 times over.
Watching a Planet Die
Astronomers first detected WASP-12b in 2008 by observing slight dimming in its star’s brightness as the planet passed in front of it. But this dimming was unusual—scientists noticed a faint secondary dimming caused by the planet’s trailing debris. This confirmed that the planet wasn’t just orbiting; it was disintegrating.
Using telescopes like Hubble, astronomers analyzed the escaping material and found elements that make up planets—hydrogen, helium, and even heavier elements. This means we are literally watching a planet being torn apart atom by atom and consumed by its star.
The Future of WASP-12b—and Earth?
At its current rate of destruction, WASP-12b will be completely devoured in about 3 million years—a blink of an eye in cosmic terms. But this phenomenon isn’t unique. Other planets, like KELT-16b and WASP-121b, are also spiraling toward destruction. These discoveries challenge our understanding of planetary systems, proving they are more dynamic and violent than we once thought.
What about Earth? Our planet is safe for now, but in about 5 billion years, the Sun will expand into a red giant, possibly consuming some of our solar system’s planets. WASP-12b offers us a preview of this distant fate, reminding us that planets, just like stars, have life cycles.
The story of WASP-12b is far from over. Future telescopes may answer lingering questions about why it migrated so close to its star and whether any planets can survive such extreme conditions. One thing is certain—our understanding of the universe is constantly evolving, and new discoveries await.
