Astronomers have discovered a new feature in the distribution of planets beyond the solar system, and this finding could help us understand the dynamics that determine the formation of exoplanets close to their stars.
The discovery — made by a team of scientists from the University of Geneva, the National Centers of Competence in Research (NCCR) Planets group, and the Centro de Astrobiología (CAB) — has been termed the "Neptunian ridge." The Neptunian ridge is a feature in the distribution of Neptune-sized exoplanets that sits between the called the "Neptunian desert," where there's an absence of Neptunian planets close to their star, also known as "hot-Neptunes," and the "Neptunian savanna," where there's an abundance of these worlds existing further out from their star.
