BULLETIN
A planet, but not as we know it
Rocky exoplanets could be far more diverse than the worlds in our planetary system
The rocky worlds of our Solar System could be the odd ones out, as a recent study into the remains of long dead planetary systems has found they were very different to our own.
The discovery was made by astronomer Siyi Xu from NOIRLab and geologist Keith Putirka from California State University, who combined their expertise to investigate the geology of planets around other stars. The duo looked at polluted white dwarfs – the remains of once Sun-like stars that have reached the end of their lives, only to have the planets that once orbited them fall into their atmospheres.
