NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, together with data from the Hubble Space Telescope, has revealed a “baby” exoplanet rapidly losing its atmosphere. The planet, named TOI 1227 b, orbits a faint red dwarf star and is only about 8 million years old. Powerful X-ray blasts from the star are stripping away the planet’s thick gas envelope. Models indicate TOI 1227 b is shedding an amount of gas equal to Earth’s entire atmosphere every ~200 years. The team notes the planet’s atmosphere “simply cannot withstand the high X-ray dose it’s receiving”. This finding offers a rare, real-time look at atmospheric erosion, showing how a young world can be dramatically reshaped by its star early on.

Observations of an Eroding Planet

According to the study, astronomers used Chandra’s X-ray data (and earlier Hubble observations of the planet’s transit) to study TOI 1227 b. This Jupiter-sized world orbits extremely close to its star – much closer than Mercury is to the Sun – and is about a thousand times younger than Earth. The host star is unleashing intense X-rays on the planet.

In artist’s illustrations and models, this appears as a blue tail of gas streaming off TOI 1227 b as its atmosphere is ripped away. Computer simulations show the radiation will “rapidly” strip off the gas. Remarkably, the planet is already losing the equivalent of an Earth’s atmosphere about every 200 years. If conditions persist, TOI 1227 b could ultimately shrink from a gas giant to “a small, barren world”.

Implications for Planetary Evolution

This discovery highlights the key role of stellar radiation in young planetary systems. High-energy X-rays (and ultraviolet light) from an active young star can heat and blow away a planet’s atmosphere. As co-author of the study Joel Kastner explains, understanding exoplanets requires that scientists “account for high-energy radiation like X-rays”. In this case, the star’s output acts like “a hair dryer on an ice cube,” gradually blowing the gas off the planet. Such photoevaporation is thought to explain why many intermediate-size exoplanets end up smaller or stripped to their cores.

China has launched a new resupply mission to its module and the astronauts and space station to which it is connected in orbit above the Earth, sending food, fuel, scientific gear, and updated spacesuits. The Long March 7 rocket, taking it aloft, took off from the Wenchang Satellite Launch Centre on Hainan Island at 5:34 p.m. EDT July 14 (5:34 a.m. China Standard Time July 15), carrying the Tianzhou 9 cargo spacecraft. The vehicle is carrying about 7.2 tons (6.5 metric tons) of supplies to support the three taikonauts currently on the station for the ongoing Shenzhou 20 crewed mission.

China Enhances Tiangong Station with New Spacesuits and Fitness Gear in Tianzhou 9 Mission

As per a report by China Global Television Network (CGTN), the cargo includes two new spacesuits that should last three to four years and allow for up to 20 spacewalks, rather than 15 for the old generation. Also along for the ride is a core muscle training device meant to boost the station’s gym for astronauts with better tools to fight muscle atrophy in microgravity conditions. The report emphasised that these improvements are key to ensuring crew health during long-duration missions.

Tianzhou 9 marks the ninth cargo launch China has executed for its human spaceflight program since 2017. The first such spacecraft docked with Tiangong 2, a prototype lab that tested critical technologies ahead of the current space station’s development. Subsequent missions have supplied either the fully assembled Tiangong station or its core module, Tianhe, which was launched in April 2021.

Launched in October 2022, the Tiangong space station, a 3-module space station, is a significant step in China’s independent space ambitions. And while its mass is but 20 percent of what the International Space Station allotted to its construction, Chinese officials have signalled plans for growing the outpost, possibly boosting its stature in low Earth orbit activities worldwide.

Cargo deliveries like Tianzhou 9 are essential to keeping Tiangong in business and the Chinese space program’s long-term human presence in space running. Thanks to improvements in equipment, preparations, and life support, the nation looks prepared to further cement its place in orbital science and discovery.