With ultra-hot Jupiters being so near to their star their shape is predicted to be distorted away from spherical by the tidal effects of the host-star’s gravity. The resulting “rugby-ball” shape (more technically called a “Roche lobe”) will then produce a transit profile that is slightly different from that produced by a spherical planet.

The CHEOPS team now report that they have detected this distortion in the case of WASP-103b. A press release presents the infographic:

The CHEOPS observations of transits of WASP-103b are shown below (grey points). The blue model is the expected profile for a deformed planet, while the green line (lowest panel) is the expected difference in transit profile between a deformed planet and a spherical planet. The CHEOPS team show statistically that the data prefer the deformed shape, at a confidence level of 3σ.

The authors, Susana Barros et al, explain that the degree of tidal deformation constrains the distribution of mass within the planet, since the gaseous hydrogen envelope is much easier to deform than the rocky core. ESA have produced an artist’s illustration showing the distorted shape of WASP-103b:

Following ESA’s press release, the work has been reported by CNN, Newsweek, the BBC, the Daily Mail, The Sun, The Independent and numerous other websites in multiple languages.