Scientists Discover New ‘Forbidden’ Planet Hiding In Neptunian Desert

The planet is smaller than Neptune but around three times the size of Earth, and was discovered by researchers from the University of Warwick

Scientists have discovered a new ‘Forbidden’ planet , hiding in the mysterious Neptunian Desert.

The exoplanet is smaller than Neptune but around three times the size of Earth, and was discovered by researchers from the University of Warwick.

The Neptunian Desert is the region close to stars, where no Neptune-sized planets are found. This area receives strong irradiation from the star, meaning planets don’t retain their gaseous atmosphere.

This suggests that the planet may have only moved into the Neptunian Desert ‘recently’ (within the last one million years), or that its atmosphere is particularly big.

“It is truly remarkable that we found a transiting planet via a star dimming by less than 0.2% – this has never been done before by telescopes on the ground, and it was great to find after working on this project for a year.

“We are now scouring out data to see if we can see any more planets in the Neptune Desert – perhaps the desert is greener than was once thought.”

Source: Mirror