NASA Scientists have been puzzled by a planetary group that appears to be shrinking. The culprit may be radiation.
All kinds of worlds exist outside our solar system. Faraway alien planets, called exoplanets, can be gas giants like Jupiter, or rocky spheres about the same size as our planet. “Super puff” with a density like cotton candy.
However, there is a mysterious gap where there should be one. planet Approximately 1.5 to 2 times the width of the Earth.
A mysterious gap where a planet is supposed to be
From over 5,000 exoplanet NASA has discovered that there are many super-Earths (up to 1.6 times the width of Earth) and sub-Neptunes (about 2 to 4 times the diameter of Earth), but very few planets in between.
“Exoplanet scientists now have enough data to say this gap is no fluke. Something is happening that prevents the planets from reaching or staying this size. Masu.” Jesse Christiansensaid in a press release Wednesday.
Scientists believe this is due to some sub-Neptunian stars shrinking. It loses its atmosphere and falls through a size gap, becoming as small as a star. super earth.
Christiansen’s latest research suggests that these worlds are shrinking because of radiation from. core of the planet displacing their atmosphere into space.
of studyA paper published Wednesday in the journal Astronomy may solve the mystery of missing exoplanets.
The planet itself may be displacing its atmosphere.
contraction exoplanet There may not be enough mass (and therefore gravity) to hold the atmosphere close.
However, the exact mechanism of atmospheric loss is still unclear.
The new study supports one of the hypotheses, which scientists call “core mass loss,” according to the release.
Core Power Weight Loss is not a new trendy training plan. According to the release, it would cause the planet’s core to emit radiation that would push its atmosphere out from below, causing it to separate from the planet over time.
Another hypothesis, called photoevaporation, is that a planet’s atmosphere is dissipated by radiation from its host star.
However, photoevaporation is thought to occur by the time the planet is 100 million years old, and nuclear-powered mass loss could occur as the planet approaches 1 billion years old, according to the release.
To test the two hypotheses, Christiansen’s team looked at data from NASA’s retired Kepler space telescope.
They examined star clusters that are more than 100 million years old. The planets are thought to be about the same age as their host stars, so the planets in these clusters are old enough to experience photoevaporation, but not old enough for nuclear mass loss to occur. .
Scientists have discovered that most of the planets there retain atmospheres, and that mass loss through the core is likely responsible for the eventual loss of atmosphere.
“However, recent research suggests a continuous mass loss sequence in which both processes operate,” Christiansen wrote on X (the platform formerly known as Twitter), Link In a review of Harvard University posted online in July.
So, the mystery is still unsolved.
According to Christiansen’s statement in the release, her research is far from over, especially as our understanding of exoplanets evolves over time.
This article was first published business insider.
More from Business Insider: