Neptune-Sized Exoplanet Blimps in and Out of Sight in a Single Orbit; Bizarre Atmosphere Leakage Found in Front and Not Behind

Stars, exoplanets, and other space bodies are known to travel the atmosphere leaving sort of a tail behind. As such, a bizarre star, the size of Neptune, has been spotted with atmosphere leakage in front of it, not behind it.

Exoplanet AU Microscopii b

According to Science Alert, the young star was spotted orbiting its exoplanet with extreme fury, resulting in significant parts of the atmosphere being ripped. The leakage appeared to be at the front of the exoplanet and not behind it.

The exoplanet being orbited by the young star was AU Microscopii b, which was described as being just the size of Neptune. According to NASA, this exoplanet was just shy of 32 light-years from Earth and was dubbed as part of the youngest planetary systems that astronomers were ever able to observe.

What was interesting about the leakage found in front was the fact that it wasn't constant, and it was found to switch on and off. Within a single orbit, it would go from detectable to undetectable and then detectable again.

However, whenever it was detectable, the exoplanet appeared to be leaking from the front instead of the back. This bizarre occurrence was further investigated by astronomers who spotted the strange phenomenon.

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Leaking in the Front

As noted by the Hubble Site, Keighley Rockcliffe, an astronomer of Dartmouth College and the leader of the research, shared how when the sight was first spotted, she thought that it couldn't be right. She described the sightings as a "stress-test case" when it came to planetary evolution and its modeling and physics.

The astronomer highlighted how the observation was great since they were able to see the star and the planet's interplay, giving them a probe into its extremes. When the AU Mic b was initially discovered in 2020, according to Astronomy and Astrophysics, it had already been described as interesting but with the new observations, there appears to be more about this exoplanet.

The exoplanet was a little larger compared to Neptune but had a star that was very close to it. For the star to accomplish a single orbit, it would only take it 8.5 days.

Because of the short distance, the exoplanet can capture the rowdiness of its star, being more active compared to older more established ones.

Observing AU Mic

Some interesting things about the AU Mic exoplanet involve the fact that it spews out over six flares daily. As such, it was known to have wild stellar winds, harsh X-ray light, and as mentioned, a lot of flares.

Rockcliffe worked closely with her team as they wanted to better observe the exoplanet in hopes of finding an explanation for the gaps in its detection. They found that it had close to twice the radius of Earth when it came to star-closeness proximity.