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Hot super-Earth atmospheres stripped by nearby host stars

Astrophysicists at the University of Birmingham have used data from NASA’s Kepler space telescope to look at super-Earths, which are planets outside our solar system with a mass 1-10 times the mass of Earth. In particular, the researchers focused on hot super-Earths whose atmospheres have been stripped away by intense radiation from nearby host stars.

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Strong magnetic fields discovered in majority of stars

A group of astronomers led by the University of Sydney has discovered strong magnetic fields are common in stars, not rare as previously thought, which will dramatically impact our understanding of how stars evolve. The findings could potentially lead to a better understanding of the Sun’s magnetic cycle, which is known to affect communication systems and cloud cover on Earth.

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Asteroseismology reveals magnetic fields deep within stars

Astronomers have for the first time probed the magnetic fields in the mysterious inner regions of stars, finding they are strongly magnetised. Using a technique called asteroseismology, the scientists were able to calculate the magnetic field strengths in the fusion-powered hearts of dozens of red giants, stars that are evolved versions of our Sun.