Hebrews 11:3
"Astronomers are baffled by a Neptune-sized exoplanet with an
It’s the size of Neptune.
It orbits its host star once every 24 hours.
That’s really moving. But it also means that its orbit is very close to the star, where temperatures are way too high for an atmosphere to survive. What’s going on?
New study details atmosphere on ‘hot Neptune’ 260 light years away that ‘shouldn’t exist’ (University of Kansas).
New study details atmosphere on ‘hot Neptune’ 260 light years away that ‘shouldn’t exist’ (University of Kansas).
--Never tell a planet it shouldn’t exist if it does exist.
--That’s a bad reflection on the assumptions of the astronomers.
--The exoplanet has no obligation to conform to expectations.
The findings concerning the recently found planet LTT9779b were
“For the first time, we measured the light coming from this planet that shouldn’t exist,” said Ian Crossfield, assistant professor of physics & astronomy at KU and lead author of the paper. “This planet is so intensely irradiated by its star that its temperature is over 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit and its atmosphere could have evaporated entirely. Yet, our Spitzer observations show us its atmosphere via the infrared light the planet emits.”
From spectra at occultation, the planet hunters were able to make
measurements of the orbit and temperature. They didn’t expect to see an atmosphere on a planet this small this close to the star.
“We think this is because hot Neptunes aren’t massive enough to avoid substantial atmospheric evaporation and mass loss,” he said. “So, most close-in hot exoplanets are either the massive hot Jupiters or rocky planets that have long ago lost most of their atmospheres.”
Q: How is this planet able to retain its atmosphere?”
A: Well, maybe it’s not millions of years old."
CEH
