Credit: Unsplash

Gravitational pulls have distorted this distant planet into an odd shape.

When one says the word “planet,” it’s usually assumed that the object in question is a more-or-less spherical world floating out in space. However, due to a variety of circumstances, it is possible for planets to take on new and interesting shapes and sizes. One such planet is WASP-103b, which bears a striking resemblance to a household potato.

Originally discovered in 2014, WASP-103b’s proximity to its nearby home star, WASP-103, had astronomers theorizing about the effect of the star’s gravitational pull on the planet’s surface. Thanks to a combination of snapshots and readings obtained by multiple orbiting space telescopes, astronomers were finally able to get a full view of the planet. As assumed, the tidal forces exerted on the planet by WASP-103’s gravity have had a direct effect on its shape. Because it’s so close to the star, its equator has been yanked sideways, stretching the planet horizontally into a potato-like shape.

Theoretically, the same could happen to any planet in our own Solar System if it existed closer to the Sun. It’s only because the Earth is at its current position that it can maintain its spherical shape.

“This is the first time such analysis has been made, and we can hope that observing over a longer time interval will strengthen this observation and lead to better knowledge of the planet’s internal structure,” Jacques Laskar, a Paris Observatory at Université Paris Sciences et Lettres astronomer and co-author of the WASP-103b study said in a press statement.