The core mass of the giant exoplanet WASP-107b is much lower than what was thought necessary to build up the immense gas envelope surrounding giant planets like Jupiter and Saturn, according to a Canadian-led team of astronomers, including McGill University Professor Eve Lee.

Classified as: super-puff, cotton-candy, planet, WASP-107b, exoplanet, gas-giant, astronomers, Eve Lee
Published on: 18 Jan 2021

Among the most extreme planets discovered beyond the edges of our solar system are lava planets: fiery hot worlds that circle so close to their host star that some regions are likely oceans of molten lava. According to scientists from McGill University, York University, and the Indian Institute of Science Education, the atmosphere and weather cycle of at least one such exoplanet is even stranger, featuring the evaporation and precipitation of rocks, supersonic winds that rage over 5000 km/hr, and a magma ocean 100 km deep.

Classified as: Lava, planet, exoplanet, K2-141b, supersonic winds, rock, rain, Giang Nguyen, nicolas cowan
Published on: 3 Nov 2020
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