Earth-sized exoplanets around small stars may have intense hurricanes

By Donna Lu

Hurricanes could be common on Earth-like exoplanets

3DSculptor/Getty Images

Earth-sized rocky exoplanets that orbit small, red stars might have intense hurricanes, according to an analysis of exoplanets orbiting M dwarfs – stars much smaller and cooler than our sun.

Thaddeus Komacek at the University of Chicago in the US, and his colleagues used hurricane models for Earth to predict the likelihood of their formation on potentially habitable exoplanets.

A key assumption of their modelling is that the surfaces of these exoplanets are covered with liquid water oceans. Although no such exoplanets have yet been identified, previous simulations suggest Earth-sized planets could be …