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A heavy-metal planet spits iron into space

The gassy exoplanet loses its hold over the heavy elements in its atmosphere.
Artist's illustration showing an alien world that is losing magnesium and iron gas from its atmosphere.

The exoplanet WASP-121b is moulded into a rugby-ball shape by the proximity of its parent star, which also spurs the escape of the planet’s metallic gases into space. Credit: NASA/ESA/J. Olmsted

Scorched by ultraviolet light from its parent star, an exoplanet named WASP-121b is surrendering iron and magnesium gas to space.

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Nature 572, 286 (2019)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-019-02390-1

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