09/23/2026
One of the strangest planets ever studied has now been examined by the James Webb Space Telescope.
It is called PSR J2322-2650b, a roughly Jupiter mass world orbiting an extreme stellar remnant known as a pulsar.
The planet is extraordinarily close to its host, only about 1 million miles away. One complete orbit takes just 7.8 hours.
That proximity has a dramatic consequence.
The pulsar’s immense gravity stretches the planet into an elongated shape described by NASA as resembling a lemon.
This is not simply an artistic exaggeration. Strong tidal forces are physically deforming the entire planet.
But its shape is only part of the mystery.
Webb observations revealed an atmosphere dominated by helium and molecular carbon, including C2 and C3.
That is unlike any planetary atmosphere previously studied.
NASA says the presence of molecular carbon is especially strange because carbon would normally bind with other abundant elements such as oxygen and nitrogen. Its dominance suggests those elements may be extremely scarce in the atmosphere.
Temperatures are also extreme.
NASA reports values ranging from about 1,200 degrees Fahrenheit on the coolest parts of the night side to roughly 3,700 degrees Fahrenheit on the hottest day side.
Researchers think soot like carbon clouds may form in the atmosphere, while deeper inside the planet, carbon could potentially condense into diamond.
The system is so unusual that scientists are still debating how it formed.
It may be related to a black widow system, where a pulsar strips material from a companion over time.
But PSR J2322-2650b does not fit neatly into familiar categories.
Its atmosphere, shape and evolutionary history remain difficult to explain.
Webb has not simply found a weird planet.
It has found a world that current formation models struggle to account for.
Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI.
