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WASP-12b is one of the more interesting exoplanets we know of. Orbiting a yellow dwarf star a little bigger than the Sun 1,410 light-years away, the ultra-black planet is what's known as a "hot Jupiter" - a gas giant exoplanet with similar mass and size to Jupiter, but so close to the star that it's scorching hot. WASP-12b has never exactly been in the most secure position. With an orbital period of just over a day, the gas giant exoplanet is so close to its star that a constant stream of material is being siphoned away from its atmosphere. But...

A star 600 light years from Earth is slowly devouring one of its own planets, according to a study released on Wednesday. The planet, the discovery of which was reported last year, is a "gas giant" with a mass about 40 per cent greater than that of Jupiter, the biggest planet of our Solar System, and with a radius 79 per cent bigger. But whereas Jupiter takes nearly 12 years to plod around the Sun, it takes WASP-12b a mere 26 hours to race around its star, WASP-12, located in the constellation of Auriga.