Finding Represents First Detections of Atmospheric Loss in “Mini-Neptunes.
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 Michael Zhang, lead author of bot...
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