ultra-hot jupiter

English

Alternative forms

  • ultra hot jupiter, ultrahot jupiter, ultra-hot Jupiter, ultra hot Jupiter, ultrahot Jupiter

Etymology

Blend of ultrahot +‎ hot jupiter. From being a type of gas giant planet much hotter than most jupiter-class planets.

Noun

ultra-hot jupiter (plural ultra-hot jupiters)

  1. A giant planet, of similar mass to that of Jupiter, which orbits close enough to its sun to become tidally locked, and whose day-side atmosphere has therefore heated up so much, as to break apart most molecules, leaving atomic gas. The day-side atmosphere has the temperature and spectral characteristics of a star's surface.

Hypernyms