Here's a computer-generated image of TrES-3, a planet which is slowly falling into its sun. A year on the planet, in the Hercules constellation, lasts only 31 hours because its orbit is so small. Twice the size of Jupiter, the planet might already be toasted if its sun wasn't smaller and cooler than our own. It occasionally passes right in front of the sun that will soon kill it, and then it's visible to amateur astronomers — like it was this week. Astronomers from the Trans-atlantic Exo-Planet Survey (TrES) discovered the suicidal world a year ago. Want to see a picture of it preparing to plunge into the sun?
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