Puffy planets lose atmospheres, become super-Earths: Finding represents first detections of atmospheric loss in
Astronomers have identified two different cases of “mini-Neptune” planets that are losing their puffy atmospheres and likely transforming into super-Earths. Radiation from the planets’ stars is stripping away their atmospheres, driving hot gas to escape like steam from a pot of boiling water. “Most astronomers suspected that young, small mini-Neptunes must have evaporating atmospheres,” says […]
Even dying stars can still give birth to planets
Planets are usually not much older than the stars around which they revolve. Take the Sun: it was born 4.6 billion years ago, and not long after that, Earth came into the world. But KU Leuven astronomers have discovered that a completely different scenario is also possible. Even if they are near death, some types […]