• The bizarre find is the first of its kind ever discovered by astronomers. The strange, cometlike planet, known as GJ 436b, is orbiting a red dwarf star and is about 22 times as massive as Earth.
  • Although prior research has predicted that other gas giants should be blowing off cometlike tails, based on how hot they must be due to their proximity to their stars, GJ 436b is the first planet for which a cometlike tail is confidently detected.
  • Researchers said that while this discovery is the first, they are poised to find thousands of system like GJ 436 in the coming years. This suggests that many other planets with cometlike tails could soon be discovered.

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