Scientists just discovered a massive, impossible planet that completely breaks the rules of astrophysics by surviving next to one of the most violent objects in the universe. Known as PSR J2322-2650b, this Jupiter-sized giant is currently orbiting a pulsar—the crushed, rapidly spinning core of a dead star that exploded in a catastrophic supernova. By all known laws of science, this planet should have been completely vaporized by the blast. Instead, it orbits its terrifying host at a dangerously close distance of just one million miles, whipping around the dead star so fast that an entire year lasts only 7.8 hours. The gravitational pull from the incredibly dense pulsar is so extreme that astronomers believe the intense tidal forces have physically warped and stretched the entire planet into a giant, distorted lemon shape.
