{"id":7919,"date":"2026-06-26T11:23:35","date_gmt":"2026-06-26T11:23:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.00strategy.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/26\/nasas-tess-spacecraft-finds-two-cotton-candy-planets-in-one-system\/"},"modified":"2026-06-26T11:27:44","modified_gmt":"2026-06-26T11:27:44","slug":"nasa-discovers-two-bizarre-cotton-candy-planets-orbiting-the-same-star","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mixtv1.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/26\/nasa-discovers-two-bizarre-cotton-candy-planets-orbiting-the-same-star\/","title":{"rendered":"NASA Discovers Two Bizarre ‘Cotton Candy’ Planets Orbiting the Same Star"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

<\/path><\/svg><\/i> \"Loading\"<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Cosmic Oddities: NASA\u2019s TESS Uncovers Rare “Cotton Candy” Exoplanets<\/h1>\n

In the vast expanse of our galaxy, astronomers have stumbled upon a celestial anomaly that defies conventional planetary models. NASA\u2019s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) has identified a pair of “super-puff” worlds that possess the physical dimensions of gas giants but the ethereal, lightweight consistency of spun sugar.<\/p>\n

A Study in Extreme Low Density<\/h3>\n

\nThe discovery, spearheaded by George Dansfield of Oxford University\u2019s Department of Physics, highlights two distinct exoplanets orbiting the same star: TOI-791 b and TOI-791 c. Their physical characteristics are staggering:<\/p>\n

* TOI-791 b:<\/strong> Roughly equivalent to Jupiter in diameter, yet it retains a mere 3% of the gas giant’s total mass.
\n* TOI-791 c:<\/strong> Surpasses Jupiter in size, but accounts for only 5.9% of its mass.<\/p>\n

These figures place these worlds in an elite, highly unusual category of “super-puffy” planets. While gas giants are typically dense, these two entities are so diffuse that their composition is often compared to cotton candy-a stark contrast to the solid, heavy planets we are accustomed to in our own solar system.<\/p>\n

Why This Discovery Matters<\/h3>\n

\nFinding even one of these low-density giants is a significant event<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

<\/div>\n

<\/path><\/svg><\/i> \"Loading\"<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

These super puffy planets are very rare. NASA \/ Daniel Rutter NASA’s\u00a0Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite or TESS has found what NASA calls the two “puffiest” worlds ever found. While they’re as big as our gas giants, they’re so light and airy that their density is apparently\u00a0comparable to cotton candy. One of the planets, called\u00a0TOI-791 b<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":55,"featured_media":7920,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ai_generated_summary":"","wpai_meta_description":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[36,336],"class_list":["post-7919","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tech","tag-mixtv","tag-space"],"a3_pvc":{"activated":true,"total_views":2,"today_views":0},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mixtv1.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7919","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mixtv1.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mixtv1.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mixtv1.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/55"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mixtv1.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7919"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.mixtv1.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7919\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7928,"href":"https:\/\/www.mixtv1.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7919\/revisions\/7928"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mixtv1.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7920"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mixtv1.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7919"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mixtv1.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7919"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mixtv1.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7919"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}