A Nearby "Hot Neptune" Exo-Planet, Orbiting Very Close To A Red Dwarf: We May Get A Full Read-Out, On Its Atmosphere, Soon...

This huge gaseous planet makes a complete orbit, or a local year, in just 24 days -- and it is about as hot as Death Valley, at Mid-Summer's noon, year round.

But because the red star is so much dimmer than ours, it doesn't burn up that close to the host star. Do go read it all, from NASA -- yesterday:

. . .Planet TOI-1231 b orbits a red dwarf star some 90 light-years away from Earth and is oddly reminiscent of our own Neptune ­– that is, a gaseous world with a potentially rich atmosphere, ripe for study. The planet is more than 3 ½ times as big around as Earth and warm by Earthly standards at 134 degrees Fahrenheit (57 Celsius). But astronomers say it is one of the “coolest,” comparatively small planets known to date, and in a prime position for the components of its atmosphere to be teased apart by space telescopes.

Red dwarf stars are smaller but longer lived than our own Sun -- with a year, once around the star, that is 24 days long. But the planet stays relatively cool despite its close orbit because its star also is on the cooler side. Though not habitable due to its size, the planet could offer scientists one of their first chances to capture a “bar-code” type reading of the atmosphere of a temperate, Neptune-sized exoplanet -- a planet orbiting another star. This will allow comparisons with similar worlds elsewhere in the galaxy, bringing potentially deep insights into the composition and formation of exoplanets and planetary systems, including our own. . . .

Fascinating -- and grin-inducing, as any precious, fragile blue life-raft might always be. . . from out of our own past. Onward, to that undiscovered country. . . with the immortal William Tell Overture, on tap later tonight, in the park. Smile. . . .

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