SUPERMASSIVE BLACK HOLES TURN MINI-NEPTUNE EXOPLANETS INTO ROCKY SUPER-EARTHS

POWERFUL BURSTS OF RADIATION FROM BLACK HOLES STRIP AWAY THE ATMOSPHERES OF COLD, GASEOUS EXOPLANETS, LEAVING BEHIND ONLY A BARE, ROCKY CORE HEAVIER THAN EARTH.

Monster black holes near the center of our Milky Way galaxy may have transformed "mini-Neptune" exoplanets into rocky super-Earths, new research shows.

Supermassive black holes are thought to reside at the centers of most, if not all, large galaxies. They gobble up surrounding matter and, in turn, generate bright flares of X-ray and ultraviolet radiation.

The new findings suggest that these powerful bursts could strip nearby exoplanets of their thick, gaseous atmosphere, leaving behind a bare, rocky core. These rocky bodies would likely be heavier than Earth, making them so-called super-Earths, according to a statement from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA). [The Strangest Black Holes in the Universe]