"Discovery: Exoplanet WASP-69 b's Enormous 350,000-Mile Tail"

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Source: ScienceAlert
"Discovery: Exoplanet WASP-69 b's Enormous 350,000-Mile Tail"
Photo: ScienceAlert
TL;DR Summary

Astronomers have discovered the gas giant exoplanet WASP-69b, located 160 light-years away, with a comet-like tail seven times longer than the planet itself. The tail is formed as the planet's atmosphere is stripped away due to its close proximity to its star, and observations from the WM Keck Observatory in Hawaii have provided valuable insights into the planet's atmospheric mass-loss in real time. Despite losing large amounts of hydrogen and helium, the massive exoplanet is not in danger of losing its entire atmosphere within the star's lifetime.

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