Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

Helium worlds

A new class of rocky exoplanets?

Nature Astronomy volume 9, pages 943–944 (2025)Cite this article

Subjects

Recent modelling suggests that Earth-mass planets in the habitable zones of Sun-like stars could evolve into rocky worlds topped by helium-dominated atmospheres.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Fig. 1: Helium atmospheres on small exoplanets.

References

  1. Lammer, H. et al. Nat. Astron. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-025-02550-6 (2025).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Hu, R., Seager, S. & Yung, Y. L. Astrophys. J. 807, 8 (2015).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  3. Mukherjee, S. et al. Astrophys. J. Lett. 982, L39 (2025).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Malsky, I., Rogers, L., Kempton, E. M.-R. & Marounina, N. Nat. Astron. 7, 57–66 (2023).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  5. Fulton, B. J. et al. Astron. J. 154, 109 (2017).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  6. Cherubim, C., Wordsworth, R., Hu, R. & Shkolnik, E. Astrophys. J. 967, 139 (2024).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  7. Cherubim, C. et al. Astrophys. J. 983, 97 (2025).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Lee, E. J., Chiang, E. & Ormel, C. W. Astrophys. J. 797, 95 (2014).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  9. Owen, J. E., Shaikhislamov, I. F., Lammer, H., Fossati, L. & Khodachenko, M. L. Space Sci. Rev. 216, 129 (2020).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  10. Oklopčić, A. & Hirata, C. M. Astrophys. J. Lett. 855, L11 (2018).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  11. Krissansen-Totton, J., Wogan, N., Thompson, M. & Fortney, J. J. Nat. Commun. 15, 8374 (2024).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Young, E. D., Shahar, A. & Schlichting, H. E. Nature 616, 306–311 (2023).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  13. Rubie, D. C., Nimmo, F. & Melosh, H. J. in Treatise on Geophysics Vol. 9 (ed. Schubert, G.) 43–79 (Elsevier, 2015).

Download references

Acknowledgements

The author thanks R. Wordsworth, C. Cherubim, I. Malsky, A. Bello-Arufe, and M. Zilinskas for helpful discussions. This article was written at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (80NM0018D0004).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA

    Renyu Hu

Authors
  1. Renyu Hu
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Renyu Hu.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The author declares no competing interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Hu, R. A new class of rocky exoplanets?. Nat Astron 9, 943–944 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-025-02607-6

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Version of record:

  • Issue date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-025-02607-6

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing