The Behemoth (IMAGE)

NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center

The Behemoth

Caption

This artist's concept shows "The Behemoth," an enormous comet-like cloud of hydrogen bleeding off of a warm, Neptune-sized planet just 30 light-years from Earth. Also depicted is the parent star of exoplanet GJ 436, a faint red dwarf. The hydrogen is evaporating from the planet due to extreme radiation from the star. A phenomenon this large has never before been seen around any exoplanet.

Credit

Credits: NASA, ESA, and G. Bacon (STScI)

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