Life on other planets or space creatures narrowed down
The most prevalent type of star in the universe, the M dwarf, has an Earth-like planet orbiting it that appears to have no atmosphere at all. This discovery could cause a major shift in the search for life on other planets.
This discovery implies that a large number of planets orbiting these stars may also lack atmospheres and, as a result, are unlikely to support life because M-dwarfs are so common.
The Astrophysical Journal Letters provides a detailed account of the research that produced the discoveries regarding the GJ 1252b no-atmosphere planet.
In a day on Earth, this planet makes two orbits around its star. In addition to being inhospitable, GJ 1252b is significantly larger than Earth and is located much closer to its star than Earth is to the sun.
"The pressure from the star's radiation is immense, enough to blow a planet's atmosphere away," said Michelle Hill, UC Riverside astrophysicist and study co-author.
The sun also causes Earth to lose some of its atmospheres over time, but volcanic emissions and other carbon-cycling processes help to replenish what is lost, making the loss hardly noticeable. However, a planet cannot continue to replenish the amount lost when it is closer to a star.
This is how Mercury is disposed of in our solar system. It does have an atmosphere, but it is very thin and is composed of atoms that the sun has blasted off its surface. These atoms escape into space due to the planet's intense heat.
Astronomers observed GJ 1252b during a secondary eclipse and measured the planet's infrared radiation to determine that it is devoid of an atmosphere. This kind of eclipse happens when a planet passes in front of a star, blocking both the light from the planet and the light reflected from
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