Extreme Radiation Could Strip Exoplanets of their Atmospheres

Posted on Categories Discover Magazine

If orbiting just 4 million miles from your fiery host star wasn’t bad enough, things might have just gotten even worse.

New research shows that stars emitting high levels of ultraviolet (UV) radiation could strip the atmospheres of their ultra-close exoplanets. While observing gas giants that orbit exceptionally close to their host stars, astronomers found that those bombarded with radiation were losing helium from their atmospheres. These results, which were published in multiple studies

Leave a Reply