Strange lemon-shaped exoplanet defies the rules of planet formation

The exoplanet PSR J2322-2650b is a place of unimaginable weirdness. It takes just 7.8 hours to orbit its star, which is an ultra-dense pulsar that spins almost 300 times per second. The star’s intense gravity pulls PSR J2322-2650b into a lemon shape. And the planet’s atmosphere seems to contain unexpected molecules of carbon. “You can imagine that this planet would look deep red, with clouds of graphite in the atmosphere,” says discoverer Michael Zhang. “I would say it’s definitely the weirdest exoplanet.”