Two Rare Super-Mercuries Discovered In The Same Star System

Artist’s impression of a five exoplanet system. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Researchers found three super-Earths and two super-Mercuries. This last type of exoplanet is still very rare—counting these two, there are only eight known super-Mercuries.

The objective of the study, published today in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics, was to characterize the composition of small planets and understand how it changes with the planet’s position, temperature and the stellar properties. Susana Barros says the team aimed to “study the transition between having or not having an atmosphere, which could be related to the evaporation of the atmosphere due to the irradiation of the star. The team found that this system is composed of three super-Earths with a significant atmosphere and surprisingly two super-Mercuries, which are the closest planets to the star.”

Read more here

www.messagetoeagle.com - best news from the past, present and future

Source: https://www.messagetoeagle.com/two-rare-super-mercuries-discovered-in-the-same-star-system/