19749

This article made me wonder how long a gas planet is expected to survive when one of its faces is more than 1,000°C. The conventional model of our solar system assumes that gas planets can form and survive only in a cold region of space. This implies that Upsilon Andromedae b moved to its present position after it had formed and that it is now evaporating rapidly.

Donald Shernoff
White Plains, N.Y.