Using data from NASA's exoplanet hunter spacecraft, Kepler, astronomers from the University of Birmingham in UK identified a new class of 'hot super- Earths' whose surface have been stripped away by their host stars.
The study published in journal Nature Communications reveals that these exoplanets lie very close to their host star and gets hit by a torrent of high energy radiation. This causes violent stripping in planets that are made up of rocky core and gaseous outer layer.
This persistent erosion of atmosphere by high radiation might effect the sizes of these planets.
"Our results show that planets of a certain size that lie close to their stars are likely to have been much larger at the beginning of their lives. Those planets will have looked very different," said Dr Guy Davies, from the University of Birmingham's School of Physics and Astronomy.
Researchers used asteroseismology to study the internal properties of these planets and their stars to a level that are unseen before.
The results of the study have important implications for understanding how stellar systems, like our own solar system, and their planets, evolve over time and the crucial role played by the host star.
They are planning to launch new generation of satellites including the NASA Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) Goal that will dig out additional information about these 'stripped system'.
