Hubble Space Telescope captures a planet’s atmosphere being stripped away by a star

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

Space Telescope has captured a remarkable and unexpected phenomenon involving the atmosphere of a planet being stripped away by energetic outbursts from its star. This intriguing celestial event revolves around a red dwarf star known as AU Microscopii, or AU Mic, situated outside our solar system, just 32 light-years away from Earth, reported CNN. AU Mic is unique in that it harbors one of the youngest planetary systems ever observed, with the star itself being less than 100 million years old.

The planetary system came into focus during observations made in 2020 using NASA's now-retired Spitzer Space Telescope and the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite. Astronomers detected a slight dimming of AU Mic's brightness, indicating the presence of a gaseous exoplanet orbiting in front of the star. Initially, the Hubble Space Telescope observed one full orbit of the exoplanet, which completes its journey around AU Mic every 8.46 days.

At first, everything appeared normal. However, when the telescope revisited the system a year and a half later, astronomers made an astonishing discovery. AU Mic b, the closest planet to the star, was experiencing the brunt of the star's radiation, causing the hydrogen atmosphere of the planet to evaporate gradually.

Within the AU Mic system, there are already two known exoplanets, with the possibility of more awaiting discovery, providing astronomers with an exciting prospect for further research and observation. The revelations about AU Mic b's atmosphere being eroded were made as part of an ongoing study, which has been accepted for publication in a future edition of The Astronomical Journal. Keighley Rockcliffe, a doctoral candidate in physics and astronomy at Dartmouth College in Hanover,