Tag Archive for 'warm Neptune'

An artist’s illustration of the exoplanet WASP-107b. Image credit: Rachel Amaro, University of Arizona.

Webb Finds Evidence for East-West Asymmetry on Super-Puff Exoplanet WASP-107b

Sep 24, 2024 by News Staff

There is a significant difference between the two edges of the atmosphere of WASP-107b, a super-Neptune exoplanet about the size of Jupiter but only a...

An artist’s impression of the warm-Neptune exoplanet GJ 3470b. Image credit: Department of Astronomy, UW-Madison.

Nearby Warm Neptune Has Sulfurous Atmosphere, Astronomers Say

Jun 17, 2024 by News Staff

A warm-Neptune exoplanet called GJ 3470b (Gliese 3470b) is 96 light-years away and circles a 2-billion-year-old red dwarf star in the general direction...

This artist’s concept shows what the exoplanet WASP-107b could look like based on recent data gathered by the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope along with previous observations from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope and other observatories. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / Ralf Crawford, STScI.

Why is Cotton-Candy Exoplanet WASP-107b So Puffy?

May 20, 2024 by News Staff

A surprisingly low amount of methane and a super-sized core hide within WASP-107b, a super-Neptune exoplanet approximately 212 light-years away in the...

An artist’s impression of a Neptune-sized planet around an A-type star. Image credit: Steven Giacalone, University of California, Berkeley.

Neptune-Sized Exoplanet Found Orbiting A-Type Star HD 56414

Aug 12, 2022 by Natali Anderson

With an effective temperature of 8,500 K, the A-type star HD 56414 is one of the hottest stars known to host a planet smaller than Jupiter. An artist’s...

This artist’s illustration shows a giant cloud of hydrogen streaming off the warm Neptune GJ 3470b. The host star’s intense radiation is heating the hydrogen in the planet’s upper atmosphere to a point where it escapes into space. GJ 3470b is losing hydrogen at a rate 100 times faster than a previously observed warm Neptune whose atmosphere is also evaporating away. Image credit: NASA / ESA / D. Player, STScI.

Hubble and Spitzer Space Telescopes Probe Atmosphere of Sub-Neptune

Jul 3, 2019 by News Staff

Astronomers are curious about the two recently-discovered classes of planets not found in the Solar System: the so-called super-Earths and sub-Neptunes,...

Hubble Finds Fast-Evaporating Warm Neptune: GJ 3470b

Dec 14, 2018 by News Staff

Extrasolar ‘Neptunes’ are exoplanets with masses and radii similar to those of the ice giants in the Solar System. In 2015, astronomers using the NASA/ESA...

An artist’s impression of the exoplanet HAT-P-11b with its extended helium atmosphere blown away by the star, an orange dwarf star smaller, but more active, than the Sun. Image credit: Denis Bajram.

Astronomers Spot Helium Cloud around Exo-Neptune HAT-P-11b

Dec 7, 2018 by News Staff

An international team of astronomers has detected helium escaping from the upper atmosphere of HAT-P-11b, a Neptune-mass exoplanet located in the constellation...

The atmosphere of the Neptune-mass exoplanet HAT-P-26b is unexpectedly primitive, composed primarily of hydrogen and helium. By combining observations from Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes, Wakeford et al determined that, unlike Neptune and Uranus, the exoplanet has relatively low metallicity. Image credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.

HAT-P-26b: Unexpectedly Primitive Atmosphere Discovered around Neptune-Mass Exoplanet

May 12, 2017 by News Staff

Astronomers have discovered that HAT-P-26b — a ‘warm Neptune’ orbiting a dwarf star approximately 437 light-years from Earth — has an atmosphere...

This artist’s concept shows the huge cloud of hydrogen bleeding off of the Neptune-sized exoplanet Gliese 436b. Image credit: NASA / ESA / STScI / G. Bacon.

GJ 436b: Astronomers Discover Giant Comet-Like Tail on Neptune-Sized Exoplanet

Jun 25, 2015 by News Staff

Using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, a group of astronomers has discovered an enormous cloud of hydrogen dispersing from the warm, Neptune-sized...

This artist’s concept depicts a proposed helium-atmosphere planet called Gliese 436b. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

Helium-Rich Gas Giants May Be Common in Milky Way Galaxy

Jun 12, 2015 by News Staff

Gaseous planets with helium-rich atmospheres may be common in our Galaxy, according to a new study accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal...