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Au Mic B

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astronomy2 years ago

"Stealthy Exoplanet: Desperately Concealing its Vaporization"

Scientists have observed the exoplanet Au Mic b, which orbits a young and volatile red dwarf star, losing portions of its atmosphere in an unpredictable manner. The planet's close proximity to its star makes it vulnerable to plasma eruptions caused by magnetic reconnection. The Hubble Space Telescope observed hydrogen leaving the planet during two transits, but the loss of hydrogen was only apparent some of the time. Stellar winds and photoionization may be responsible for shaping the outflows in a way that makes them unobservable from Hubble's perspective. The behavior of planets like Au Mic b and the fate of their atmospheres remain largely unknown.