Get the latest Science News and Discoveries

A Star is Dissolving its Baby Planet


Astronomers have found a young star bathing a planet in intense X-ray radiation, wearing it away at a rapid rate. The planet is Jupiter-sized and orbits its red dwarf star at a fifth the distance from Mercury to the Sun. It's only 8 million years old, and researchers estimate that within a billion years, it will lose its entire atmosphere, going from 17 Earth masses down to just 2 Earth masses. They estimate that it's losing an Earth's atmosphere worth of mass every 200 years.

None

Get the Android app

Or read this on Universe Today

Read more on:

Photo of baby planet

baby planet

Photo of Star

Star

Related news:

News photo

This star offers the earliest peek at the birth of a planetary system like ours

News photo

Astronomers trace mysterious blast of X-rays to 'Die Hard' star that refuses to perish (video)

News photo

Dying Star's Strangled Jets Solve 50-Year-Old X-Ray Mystery