Blown-away, Certain planets lose much of thier mass thanks to their stars

[PB666]

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-36016748

Title says it all.

[Shpaget]

Isn't that the mechanism thought to be the major factor in the loss of Mars atmosphere?

[PB666]

2 hours ago, Shpaget said:

Isn't that the mechanism thought to be the major factor in the loss of Mars atmosphere?

Mars might have had a thin atmosphere during the beginning, the way I interpret this is that these planets had atmospheres thicker than venus, but because of the stellar dynamics they could not retain their atmospheres and were lost early on. It might be true that there is a critical mass to a gaseous planet whereby the gravity is high enough then you see a gas giant circling a star, but if not or the star has a powerful enough pulse stage, the planet can lose its atmosphere and become rocky.

 

[James Kerman]

Earth's early atmosphere is thought to have been lost by a different mechanism - planetesimal bombardment.  An article on MIT's studies of the phenomenon here.