exoplanets

Is our solar system a cosmic oddity? Evidence from exoplanets says yes

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When we started finding planetary systems around other stars we thought many of them would be like ours. We’ve now found hundreds – and it’s so far, so wrong Space 1 December 2021 By Stuart Clark Duc LOng Once upon a time, there was a solar system. In it lived four small rocky planets called … Read more

Exoplanets: Small Jupiter-like worlds hint we need to rethink gas giant formation

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We thought young gas giant planets would be large and low-density, but the gas giants around a star that is just 20 million years old don’t fit this model Space 2 December 2021 By Chen Ly An artist’s impression of a Jupiter-like exoplanet Alexandr Yurtchenko/Alamy Two Jupiter-like planets that orbit a young star are much … Read more

Exoplanets: Extremely dense world with an enormous iron core has an 8-hour year

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By Leah Crane The exoplanet GJ 367b orbits its star in an extremely short time SPP 1992 (Patricia Klein) An extraordinarily dense exoplanet seemingly made mostly of iron has joined a group called the ultrashort-period planets that orbit so close to their stars that their years are less than one Earth day long. Kristine Lam, … Read more