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From the vantage point of the Earth, the planet of HD 209458 moves across the face of its star once every few days. Such transits allow astronomers to probe the planet's atmosphere. A surprising discovery was that the planet heated to such high temperatures by it star, that its atmosphere is slowly escaping into space, forming a long tail that dims the star as it trails behind the planet. | ||||||||
This image is Copyright © by John Whatmough, all rights reserved. | ||||||||
