Finding the deadly stellar winds

[Waspie_Dwarf]

Finding the deadly stellar winds that could put a stop to life

Scientists could soon be able to observe the shockwaves between the magnetic fields of planets and the flow of charged particles from the stars they orbit, according to an astronomer at the University of St Andrews. The fields (magnetospheres) shield the atmospheres of planets and are thought to be crucial to the development of life. Now PhD student Joe Llama has worked out how the shock waves affect the dip in light seen from Earth as the planet passes in front of its parent star. He will present the new model on 5 July at the National Astronomy Meeting in St Andrews, Scotland.

Since the early 1990s astronomers and space scientists have found almost 900 planets in orbit around other stars, most of which are far larger than the Earth and far closer to their stars than the Earth is to the Sun. These giant planets are known as ‘hot Jupiters’ because of their sizes and high atmospheric temperatures, in some cases several thousand degrees.

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[EmeralVines]

This is a very interesting advancement for now day!