Researchers from the University of Warwick in the UK have discovered a Neptune-class exoplanet called NGTS-4b in a region where they never expected to find one – in a scorching hot Neptunian Desert, Science Alert reported. Such regions of space in the close proximity to stars are usually filled with either much larger giant planets or dwarf and rocky ones, with their atmospheres evaporated by their star's irradiation.
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Still, not only is NGTS-4b orbiting its sun close enough to be in the desert region, but it has also managed to preserve its atmosphere despite a blazing 1,000 Celsius surface temperature. The researchers dubbed the phenomenal celestial body a "forbidden planet", allegedly in reference to a famous 1956 science fiction film.
"This planet must be tough - it is right in the zone where we expected Neptune-sized planets could not survive", Richard West, a physicist at the University of Warwick, said.
Although there is so far no evidence indicating how the "forbidden planet" has managed to retain its atmosphere under such extreme conditions, West offered some theories. According to one, the planet could have an incredibly high core mass, thereby creating enough gravitational force to prevent the atmosphere from evaporating.
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Another hypothesis suggests that originally NGTS-4b was orbiting the star farther away, until its orbit recently decayed, sending it into the hellishly hot Neptunian Desert. If that's the case, its atmosphere will remain for a while, but will eventually disappear, turning NGTS-4b into a bare rock three times the size of Earth.
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