Evaporating extrasolar planet, from Video (artist's impression)

Using the Hubble Space Telescope, for the first time, astronomers have observed the atmosphere of an extrasolar planet evaporating off into space. Much of this planet may eventually disappear, leaving only a dense core. The planet is a type of extrasolar planet known as a ‘hot Jupiter’. These giant, gaseous planets orbit their stars very closely, drawn to them like moths to a flame.

Credit: European Space Agency, Alfred Vidal-Madjar (Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris, CNRS, France) and NASA.