A gas giant 57 light-years away from Earth has damaged NASA because of its color and size. The planet known as GJ 504b is four times the size of Jupiter, and considering Jupiter is 11 times the size of Earth, it is fair to say that GJ 504b is indeed a giant of a planet.
What makes the planet so spectacular, however, is that it is a bright pink color.
The odd planet gets its remarkable color from the heat it generates.
Because it is still a relatively young planet, the gas does not yet have the ability to cool, causing temperatures to rise to about 460 degrees Fahrenheit (237 Celsius).
According to NASA, the galaxy in which the planet is located, GJ 504, is 160 million years old – which means that the planet must be younger.
Although this may seem old, our solar system is roughly 4.6 billion years old, which means that GJ 504 is still very much in its infancy.
NASA said on its website: “If humans could travel to this gigantic planet, we would see a world still glowing from the heat of its formation with a color reminiscent of a dark cherry blossom, a fool magenta.
“Using infrared data from the Subaru telescope in Hawaii, astronomers discovered this gas giant orbiting a bright star named GJ 504 in 2013.
“Several times the mass of Jupiter and similar in size, the new world, called GJ 504b, the planet with the lowest mass ever discovered around a star like the sun with direct imaging techniques.
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The massive planet has such a strong gravitational force that it helps keep the asteroid belt – located between Mars and the gas giant – in place, so that space rocks do not fly around the solar system.
It is also theorized that the planet attracts loose asteroids, comets and meteors.
NASA said on its website: “Astronomers think that if it were not for the giant planet Jupiter exerting its gravity on the asteroids in the belt, the inner planets would be constantly bombarded by large asteroids.
“The presence of Jupiter really protects Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars from repeated asteroid collisions!”.
