Twice the size of Jupiter and hotter than most stars, the planet sweeps through space with a giant tail of superheated gas stretching out behind it. Named Kelt-9b, the planet was discovered when astronomers spotted the shadow it cast as it crossed the face of its host star 650 light years away in the constellation of Cygnus. The planet is so close to the star that its surface reaches more than 4,300C (7800F), making it the hottest giant planet ever found. Astronomers observed the distant world from two robotic telescopes in Arizona and Sutherland, to the north of Cape Town in South Africa. In the next 200m years, the star will expand to the point that the planet will graze its surface.

Source: The Guardian June 05, 2017 15:00 UTC