Story perspectives

Citizen-Found Jupiters Reveal Record 11-Hour Transits via JWST

6/26/2026

Summary

Scientists Find Planets

Scientists led by George Dransfield (Oxford) announced two exoplanets, TOI-791 b and TOI-791 c, orbiting a dwarf star 1,110 light-years away.
Both Jupiter-sized planets have densities of 0.022 and 0.027 ounces per cubic inch, orbit in a 5:3 resonance, and show 11-hour transits—the longest planetary transits recorded from the ground.
Citizen scientists flagged the planets in 2019 and 2023, prompting the team to use the James Webb Space Telescope to probe their atmospheres.

Summary

Scientists Discover Super-Puffs

The discovery of super-puff exoplanets was published on June 25, 2026 in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.
Dr. George Dransfield said the planets’ skies are white or blue, not cotton-candy pink.
Media likened the planets’ densities to shaving foam and said they are lighter than cotton candy.
NASA called the planets a “cosmic mystery” because they orbit a star in Volans and are among fewer than 40 of 6,300 exoplanets.

Summary

Dransfield Leads Study

George Dransfield of Oxford University led the study published on June 25 2026 in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.
The research included Université Côte d’Azur’s Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur and the University of Birmingham.
Jon Jenkins of NASA’s Ames Research Center managed processing of 1,122 days of TESS observations gathered over seven years.
Steve Howell, also at NASA Ames, analyzed the transit-timing variations to assess planetary system evolution.

History

Historical Context

Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz’s 1995 radial-velocity detection of 51 Pegasi b at the University of Geneva marked the first confirmed planet around a Sun-like star. Decades of surveys, including Kepler’s 715 new planets in 2014, paved the way for George Dransfield’s Oxford team, with NASA Ames and TESS, to reveal ultra-low-density “super-puff” worlds, expanding the known exoplanet diversity.

1 of 4

Scientists Find Planets

Scientists led by George Dransfield (Oxford) announced two exoplanets, TOI-791 b and TOI-791 c, orbiting a dwarf star 1,110 light-years away.
Both Jupiter-sized planets have densities of 0.022 and 0.027 ounces per cubic inch, orbit in a 5:3 resonance, and show 11-hour transits—the longest planetary transits recorded from the ground.
Citizen scientists flagged the planets in 2019 and 2023, prompting the team to use the James Webb Space Telescope to probe their atmospheres.

1 / 4