Asuper-Jupiter is a gas giant exoplanet that is more massive than the planetJupiter. For example,companions at theplanet–brown dwarf borderline have been called super-Jupiters, such as around the starKappa Andromedae.[1]
By 2011 there were 180 known super-Jupiters, somehot, some cold.[2] Even though they are more massive than Jupiter, they remain about the same size as Jupiter up to 80 Jupiter masses.[2] This means that their surface gravity and density go up proportionally to their mass.[2] The increased masscompresses the planet due to gravity, thus keeping it from being larger.[2] In comparison, planets somewhat lighter than Jupiter can be larger, so-called "puffy planets" (gas giants with a large diameter but low density).[3] An example of this may be the exoplanetHAT-P-1b with about half the mass of Jupiter but about 1.38 times larger diameter.[3]
CoRoT-3b, with a mass around 22Jupiter masses,[4] is thought to have an average density of 26.4 g/cm3, greater thanosmium (22.6 g/cm3), the densest chemical element understandard conditions. The planet is likely composed mainly ofhydrogen, but the extremegravitational compression causes the high density.[5] Thesurface gravity is also high, over 50 times that of Earth.[4]
In 2012, the super-JupiterKappa Andromedae b was imaged around the starKappa Andromedae,[1] orbiting it about 1.8 times the distance at whichNeptune orbits theSun.[6]
