XO-3b

System: XO-3 system
Type: Gas ultragiant

The massive gas giant XO-3b has an extremely odd orbit. While most planets orbit around a star’s mid-section, this one is tilted about 37 degrees from the star’s equator. Such a misalignment must have occurred as a result of a disturbance, such as a collision with another object, sometime after the planet’s formation.

The orbit is also very close, with a period of just 3.5 standard days. The size and closeness to its star is unusual. Close encounters with other planets could have greatly amplified a slight initial tilt, but attraction from the disk of material could not. Likely, a cataclysmic event occurred in this planet’s past.