The discovery of a "strange world" resembling "football" outside our solar system

A star system located 900 light years away attracts a planet the size of Jupiter that is leaking heavy metal gases into the atmosphere, where the gravity of the host star changes shape to look like to "football".

While planets of this size do not release heavy metals, the WASP-121b is near its star at a "dangerous" distance, warming it enough to release gases.

"Heavy metals have been observed on another hot planet, but only in the lower atmosphere," said David Singh, of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. "With WASP-121b, magnesium and iron gas can be detected far from the planet."

In a new study published in Astronomical, researchers badyzed the observations of the Hubble Space Telescope and discovered that the ultraviolet rays of the host star were helping magnesium and iron to come out of the upper atmosphere, which could make the warmer conditions.

The researchers say the planet looks like "football" because of its proximity to the host star, and observations show that the upper atmosphere reaches 4600 degrees Fahrenheit.

This burning environment, combined with other features, makes the planet a good place to look for things like magnesium and iron.

NASA said conditions are a key target of the James Webb Space Telescope, in which the planet's atmosphere could be home to carbon dioxide, which appears at longer wavelengths.

The WASP-121b study could reveal the means by which planets lose their primordial atmosphere.