Infographic: Clingy planets can trigger own doom, suspect Cheops and TESS (IMAGE)

European Space Agency

Infographic: Clingy planets can trigger own doom, suspect Cheops and TESS

Caption

Astronomers using the European Space Agency’s Cheops mission have caught a clingy exoplanet that seems to be triggering flares of radiation from the star it orbits. These tremendous explosions are blasting away the planet’s thick atmosphere, causing it to shrink every year. This infographic explains the process.

Credit

ESA

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License

CC BY-SA

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