Astronomers have discovered an unusual exoplanet, BD+05 4868 Ab, located about 140 light-years from Earth. This rocky planet, which orbits its star in just 30.5 hours, lies extremely close—about 20 times closer than Mercury is to the Sun. The star’s intense radiation is causing the planet’s surface to vaporize, turning it into a “melting” world with a comet-like tail stretching nearly 9 million kilometers. Temperatures reach up to 1600°C (2900°F), and the planet loses a mass comparable to that of Mount Everest with each orbit. Scientists estimate the planet will completely disintegrate within 1 to 2 million years.
BD+05 4868 Ab was discovered using the transit method, but its light curve stood out—rather than a brief dip in brightness, astronomers observed a prolonged dimming caused by a massive tail of rocky dust. A second, smaller tail was also detected later, making the planet especially intriguing for studies of dust dynamics. Among nearly 6,000 known exoplanets, such objects are extremely rare—only four have been identified.
Unlike gas giants such as HAT-P-32b or WASP-69b, whose helium and hydrogen tails evaporate over billions of years, BD+05 4868 Ab is a rocky world breaking apart far more quickly. It also differs from more stable “melting” planets like the one orbiting KIC 12557548, which is expected to last for hundreds of millions more years.
Despite being utterly inhospitable, BD+05 4868 Ab holds great scientific value. The material evaporating from its surface offers a rare opportunity to study the mineral composition of rocky planets. Future observations with the James Webb Space Telescope could provide critical insights into the makeup and evolution of such extreme exoplanets, opening new frontiers in the study of planetary systems.
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