Scientists Discover New Alien Planet

A Qatar astronomer and scientists at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics have discovered a new alien planet, named as Qatar-1b, bigger than Jupiter.

The planet, belonging to the hot Jupiter family, is orbiting an orange Type K star 550 light-years away and 2.2 million miles from its star - only six stellar radii away.

Qatar-1b is a gas giant 20 percent larger than Jupiter in diameter and 10 percent more massive and roasts at a temperature of around 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit.

Qatar-1b circles its star once every 1.4 days, meaning that its year is just 34 hours long. It's expected to be tidally locked with the star, so one side of the planet always faces the star. As a result, the planet spins on its axis once every 34 hours - three times slower than Jupiter, which rotates once in 10 hours.

The discovery of Qatar-1b is a great achievement - one that further demonstrates Qatar's commitment to becoming a leader in innovative science and research, said Khalid Al Subai, leader of the Qatar exoplanet survey and a research director of the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development.

This discovery marks the beginning of a new era of collaborative astrophysics research between Qatar, the United Kingdom, and the United States, he said.