'Ridges', 'Deserts' And 'Savannahs'

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A new 'map' of distant planets has been unveiled by scientists from The University of Warwick, which finds a ridge of planets in deep space, separating a desert of planets from a more populated savannah.

Researchers from Warwick and other universities examined Neptunian exoplanets -- these planets share similar characteristics to our own Neptune, but orbit outside of our solar system.

Planets in the desert are very rare, as intense radiation has eroded their atmospheres to the point of destroying them, turning these planets into bare rocky cores.

The savannah is a region located further away from the intense radiation. In this region, environmental conditions are more favourable and allow planets to maintain their atmospheres for millions of years.

In between these two regions, researchers have discovered a new pile-up called the ridge, where there is a large concentration of planets.