TrES-4b facts for kids
TrES-4 is a special kind of planet called an exoplanet. This means it orbits a star that is not our Sun. TrES-4 goes around a star named GSC 02620-00648.
This planet is very close to its star, only about 4.5 million miles away. Because it's so close, a year on TrES-4 is incredibly short, lasting only about three Earth days! This makes the planet super hot. The temperature on TrES-4 can reach around 2,300 degrees Fahrenheit (which is about 1,260 degrees Celsius).
TrES-4 is a gas giant, like Jupiter in our solar system. It's huge, about 70 percent bigger than Jupiter. But even though it's so big, it's very light for its size. It's only as dense as cork! When it was first found, TrES-4b was the largest known planet in the universe.
How TrES-4 Was Discovered
Scientists found TrES-4 as part of a project called the Trans-Atlantic Exoplanet Survey. A scientist named Georgi Mandushev discovered the planet at the Lowell Observatory in Arizona.
They found TrES-4 using a method called the transit method. Imagine a tiny bug flying in front of a bright light bulb. When the bug passes in front of the light, the light gets a little bit dimmer for a moment. In the same way, when an exoplanet like TrES-4 passes in front of its star from our view on Earth, the star's light gets a tiny bit dimmer. Astronomers can see this change in light and know that a planet is orbiting that star.
