Neptune desert

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A Neptunian desert is defined as the region around a star (with an orbital period of <2-4 Earth days ) in which no exoplanets the size of Neptune (> 0.1 Jupiter mass ) have been observed. This designation is still used when exoplanets were first found in a Neptunian desert.

Neptunian deserts are strongly irradiated by their star, which means that the planets hidden in them do not keep their gaseous atmosphere , as it evaporates and only leaves a rocky core ( chthonic planet ). But planets with atmospheres that meet the criteria of a Neptunian desert have already been observed.

The physical mechanisms that lead to the observed Neptunian desert are (as of June 2020) not known; however, it is believed that they are due to a different formation mechanism for short-period super - earths and gas planets , similar to the reasons behind deserts for brown dwarfs .

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Richard G. West, Edward Gillen, Daniel Bayliss, Matthew R. Burleigh, Laetitia Delrez: NGTS-4b: A sub-Neptune transiting in the desert . In: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society . tape 486 , no. 4 , July 11, 2019, ISSN  0035-8711 , p. 5094-5103 , doi : 10.1093 / mnras / stz1084 ( oup.com [accessed July 5, 2020]).
  2. ^ David J. Armstrong, Théo A. Lopez, Vardan Adibekyan, Richard A. Booth, Edward M. Bryant: A remnant planetary core in the hot-Neptune desert . In: Nature . tape 583 , no. 7814 , July 2020, ISSN  1476-4687 , p. 39–42 , doi : 10.1038 / s41586-020-2421-7 ( nature.com [accessed July 5, 2020]).
  3. ↑ Jörg Römer, DER SPIEGEL: Discovery in Space: Planet Hardcore - DER SPIEGEL - Science. Retrieved July 5, 2020 .
  4. ↑ a b The 'Forbidden' planet has been found in the 'Neptunian Desert'. Retrieved July 5, 2020 .