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Leaky mini-Neptune planets are losing their air and becoming super-Earths
Leaky mini-Neptune planets are losing their air and becoming super-Earths,In our solar system, Earth is the biggest of the terrestrial planets; the smaller, rocky worlds. The next planet bigger in size is Neptune, a gaseous giant four times Earth's diameter. As we started to find exoplanets — aliens planets orbiting other stars — we started finding planets in that mass gap. Over time, enough were found to get some statistics, and these planets fall into two distinct mass ranges: "super-Earths" that are up to about 1.6 times Earth's diameter, and "mini-Neptunes," which are 2–4 times our planet's width.

Leaky mini-Neptune planets are losing their air and becoming super-Earths

In our solar system, Earth is the biggest of the terrestrial planets; the smaller, rocky worlds. The next planet bigger in size is Neptune, a gaseous giant four times Earth’s diameter. As we started to find exoplanets — aliens planets orbiting other stars — we started finding planets in that mass gap. Over time, enough were found to get some statistics, and these planets fall into two distinct mass ranges: "super-Earths" that are up to about 1.6 times Earth’s diameter, and "mini-Neptunes," which are 2–4 times our planet’s width.