Exoplanet Shows Gas Giants Start as Dusty Behemoths
Updated: 2010-09-02 21:03:20
By Alasdair Wilkins, io9
The atmosphere of a young exoplanet didn’t fit any of our existing models for what gas giants should look like. But when astronomers added huge dust clouds, it was a perfect fit, perhaps revealing a larger truth about gas giants.
The planet in question is HR 8799 b, a gas [...]
Hot water discovered around a giant carbon star requires a new theory for the chemistry around stars to be explained. The new theory could significantly alter our understanding of what materials exist in interstellar space, and where water and life could exist in the universe.
“It makes us realize that the chemistry in all stars can [...]