The biggest known planet in the Universe is named CT Cha b. Its companion star is called CT Cha and they can be found about 500 lightyears away in the Chamaeleon constellation in the southern sky. The CT Cha b planet is about 24 times the diameter of Earth and is about 5400 times more massive!
But if we are comparing planets in terms of mass, instead of size, then the biggest one is a planet called 2M 2206-20 b and is a mindboggling 9540 times the mass of Earth! In comparison, Jupiter, the biggest and most massive planet in our Solar System, is about 11 times the size of Earth and 320 times more massive.
We keep discovering new star systems and planets so it is possible that we will find yet bigger and more massive planets than CT Cha b and 2M 2206-20 b. Watch this space!
2 Comments - Leave your own
But what is the upper limit of mass that a planet can take on and still be considered to be composed of ordinary matter? I assume that once a planet gets so massive its own gravity will cause it to transition into something else like a star where matter takes on the characteristics of plasma and nuclear fusion processes kick in, or turn into other exotic materials such as what’s in neutron stars. It seems there is a theoretical maximum for the mass of a rock that can still be considered to be made out of rock
Thank you for saying what I’ve been thinking. This is slightly off topic but I feel that sharing it is worth doing, check out the video called the Prime Fields. There are 3 installments, each about an hour long.