We all know that space is weird as it is - its mysteriousness is precisely the reason why people were fascinated with the night sky and space exploration since the beginning of life on Earth. There are things there that are beyond our comprehension and that defy our traditional laws of physics. Hence, no matter how hard we try to understand and explain our vast universe, there will always be mysteries out there that are yet to be unraveled.
In this video we will go over a list of the
most mysterious and weirdest exoplanets - planets outside our solar system. So
let’s check these astonishing celestial bodies and what makes them fascinating.
Here are 20 strange planets that are
interesting and terrifying
#1 J1407b - An Exomoon Or A "Saturn On Steroids"
J1407b has been referred to as a "Saturn
on steroids" or “Super Saturn” due to its massive system of
circumplanetary rings about 640 times the one of Saturn’s rings. It is an
exoplanet located 434 light years from Earth in the constellation of Centaurus
and is the only known exoplanet with rings similar to Saturn. If this planet
swapped places with Saturn, its rings would dominate the Earth's sky and would
appear many times larger than a full moon. There is a large gap halfway through
the ring system and it's possible that a Mars-sized exomoon orbits the planet
within this gap. If there are any aliens living on this exomoon, then they have
an extraordinary view looking up into the sky.
#2 Gliese 581c - A
Potentially Habitable Exoplanet
Gliese 581c is an exoplanet located 20 light
years or 120 trillion miles from Earth in the constellation of Libra. The
planet orbits its star at a distance of 6.8 million miles, only 7% of the 93
million miles distance between the Earth and the Sun. Gliese 581c is tidally
locked, meaning that one side of the planet always faces the star and the other
side never does— the near side is experiencing scorching temperatures which
would instantly melt you alive, while the far side experiences freezing
temperatures that would instantly turn you into a frozen snowman. Between these
two extremes, however, is a narrow strip of land with better conditions that
could theoretically support alien life. In 2008, we sent a radio message at
Gliese 581c which is expected to reach the planet in 2029.
#3 Gj 1214b - The Waterworld
It is the most likely known candidate for
being an ocean planet. GJ 1214b has no land, but only oceans that stretch all
over the surface. If it is a water world, it could possibly be thought of as a
bigger and hotter version of Jupiter's Galilean moon Europa.
#4 Gliese 436b - A Planet
Defying The Laws Of Physics
Gliese 436b is an exoplanet located 30 light
years from Earth in the constellation of Leo and seems to defy the laws of
Physics. This planet orbits its star at a distance 15 times closer than Mercury
is to the sun and the icy surface is roasting at a temperature of 439 °C (822
°F). So how does ice of all things remain completely solid at 439 degrees above
its melting point? Because the gravity is so incredibly strong that it
compresses the trace amounts of water vapor in the planet's atmosphere into
solid ice and prevents it from melting, no matter how much it burns. One orbit
around the star takes only about 2 days, 15.5 hours.
#5 55 Cancri E - A Diamond
Planet
55 Cancri E is only about 40 light-years away
from us in the Cancer constellation. It is twice the size of Earth but is nearly
8 times more massive and twice as dense. The parent star has much more carbon
than our own sun, and the mass of the planet is thought to be largely carbon.
Due to the pressure and average maximum surface temperature of 4417 °F (2400
°C), this 'super-Earth' is believed to be covered with diamonds. It is so close
to its parent star it takes a mere 18 hours for the planet to complete a full
orbit.
#6 Hat-P-7b - Where It Rains
Rubies And Sapphires
HAT-P-7b is located in the Cygnus
constellation, about 1000 light years away from Earth. On the night side of
this exoplanet, high precipitation of aluminium oxide (corundum) is found in
the atmosphere. Because corundum gems are rubies and sapphires, one can
describe the hypothetical weather on the planet's night side as 'raining rubies
& sapphires'. The planet also suffers from violent storms, so it’s likely
that these rubies and sapphires are scattered planet-wide.
#7 Psr J1719–1483 B - Orbits
Around A Pulsar
This planet orbits a pulsar, or extremely
compact and dense neutron star that is about the size of a large city. This one
has a diameter of 12 miles (19 kilometers), but its mass is 1.4 times the mass
of the Sun. Another thing about pulsars is that they rotate quickly. Therefore,
this planet has an orbital period of 2 hours.
#8 Hd 189733b - Where It
Rains Glass
The blue planet where it rains glass
It’s called HD 189773bnd it is slightly larger than Jupiter in
our solar system, and is located about 62 light years away from Earth. The
planet gets its deep, beautiful azure color from the planet’s strange
atmosphere which is actually made up mostly of silicate atoms and particles.
The wind speeds on the planet can actually reach as high as 5,400 miles per
hour, which is actually around 2 kilometers per second (or over seven times
faster than the speed of sound). Temperatures can also reach way over 900 °C
(1652 °F) on the planet.
What is horrid and frightening about this planet is that it literally rains
glass sideways along with unbearably fast winds. If this exact storm were
somehow to occur at the equator on Earth, it would travel all the way around
the Earth in just a mere five and a half hours.
#9 Wasp-12b - A Planet
That's Eating Up Light
WASP-12b is one of the darkest known
exoplanets — the day side of the planet eats light rather than reflects it into
space. The exoplanet, which is twice the size of Jupiter, has the unique
capability to trap at least 94 percent of the visible starlight falling into
its atmosphere. The temperature of the atmosphere is a seething 4,600 °F (8,312
°C).
The day side hoards all the visible light because it always faces its star. The
planet orbits so close to its host that it has fixed day and night sides.
WASP-12b completes an orbit once a day. The night side is much cooler, with
temperatures roughly 2,200 °F (3,992 °C), which allows water vapor and clouds
to form. A swirl of material from the planet’s super-heated atmosphere is
spilling onto its star.
This oddball exoplanet is one of a class of
so-called "hot Jupiters" that orbit very close to their host star and
are heated to enormous temperatures.
#10 Gj-504b - The Pink Planet
This beautiful pink, or should I say magenta,
colored exoplanet is the resident of Virgo constellation. Its name is Gliese
504 b (but often referred to as GJ-504b) and it orbits its star at nearly nine
times the distance Jupiter orbits the sun.
One interesting characteristic of this planet is—it’s a newly formed planet and
is still glowing with heat, which makes the surface appear a shade of magenta.
#11 Kepler-10c - A Mega-Earth
Kepler-10c lies 560 light-years from Earth in
the constellation Draco, where it orbits Kepler-10 with a year of 45 days.
It is a planet that weighs 17 times as much as Earth and is more than twice as
large in size. Planet formation theorists are challenged to explain how such a
massive world could have formed. It is actually so unusual, it has opened up a
new category of exoplanets called "Mega-Earths".
#12 Ogle-2005-Blg-390lb - A
Frozen Wasteland
After a journey of over 20,000 light years we
have reached the constellation of Sagittarius. A red dwarf star glows faintly
against the darkness of space. Red dwarfs are some of the smallest and coolest
stars in the universe. The star is orbited by a distant planet. This planet is
too far away to feel what little heat is generated by the star. It is one of
the coldest known planets in the universe with a freezing surface temperature
of -220 °C (-364 °F). The entire planet is covered in a thick layer of ice. Glaciers,
canyons, vast plains and giant mountains of ice dot the surface. Life on the
surface of this frozen wasteland is highly unlikely. Temperatures are so bone
chillingly cold that any life as we know it would instantly be turned into an
frozen ice cube. However, things could be more lively deep beneath the hostile,
frozen surface.
The planet could have a warm core generating heat. Also, tidal heating caused
by the gravitational pull of orbiting moons could keep the planets interior
warm. This could melt much of the inner ice and create a giant subsurface ocean
of water.
#13 Psr B1620-26 B - Almost
As Old As The Universe
At an estimated age of 13 billion years, the
planet is more than twice as old as Earth's 4.5 billion years. It's about as
old as a planet can be. It formed around a young, sun-like star barely 1
billion years after our universe's birth in the Big Bang. The ancient planet
has had a remarkable history because it resides in an unlikely, rough
neighborhood. It orbits a peculiar pair of burned-out stars in the crowded core
of a cluster of more than 100,000 stars.
#14 Kepler-438b - The Most
Earth-Like Planet In Terms Of Radius And Mass
Kepler-438b has an Earth Similarity Index
(ESI) of 0.88, the highest known for a confirmed exoplanet to date, making it
currently the most Earth-like planet in terms of radius and mass.
The planet was announced as orbiting within the habitable zone of Kepler-438, a
region where liquid water could exist on the surface of the planet.
#15 Tres-4b - A Puffy Planet
Located 1,400 light-years away in the Hercules constellation,
TrES-4b is one of the largest exoplanets ever discovered so far (next to
WASP-17b, WASP-12b, CT Chamaeleontis b and GQ Lupi b). Though it is over 1.7
times the size of Jupiter, it has an extremely low density and is categorized
as a ‘puffy’ planet.
The planet’s density is about the same as cork, which came as quite a shock.
Astronomers attribute this to the extreme heat of 2300 °F (1260 °C) due to its
proximity to the star. At only 4.5 million miles (7.2 million kilometers) away
from its sun, TrES-4b is able to complete an orbit in three Earth days.
This made TrES-4b both the largest known planet and the planet with the lowest
known density at the time of its discovery.
#16 Hd 106906 - Its Formation
Remains A Mystery
HD 106906 b is an exoplanet located 300 light
years from Earth in the constellation of Crux. It orbits its star at a distance
of 60 billion miles (approximately 96 billion kilometers) which is 20 times the
distance between the Sun and Neptune. It is estimated to be about eleven times
the mass of Jupiter and it is unknown how this planet formed or how it came to
have such a distant orbit from its star. Despite being so far from the warmth
of its star, this gas giant still has a scorching surface temperature of 1500
°C (2732 °F) and still glows in the infrared spectrum from the residual heat
left over from its formation.
#17 Wasp-17b - Moving In The
Opposite Direction
WASP-17b is one of the largest exoplanets
discovered and contains at least half of Jupiter’s mass.
What is more interesting about this planet is that it retrogrades the orbit,
which means that this planet moves in the opposite direction of its parent
star.
#18 Tres-2b - Darker Than
Coal
The planet has been identified in 2011 as the
darkest known exoplanet, reflecting less than 1% of any light that hits it
(less than coal, for example). And the light reflected is dimly red which gives
the planet an evil red color.
#19 Kepler-78b - A Lava
Planet
Kepler-78b is similar to our planet Earth.
This exoplanet is in the Cygnus constellation. The strangest thing about it,
though, is how close it is to its host star: it is only 550,000 miles (885,139
kilometers) away. It is 40 times closer to its star than Mercury is to Sun and
its temperature is estimated to be around 2030 °C (3680 °F).
According to Francesco Pepe, one of the astronomers involved with the
discovery, the planet may be Earth-sized but "it can be imagined like a
lava planet rather than an Earth-like planet."
#20 2mass J2126-8140 - An
Inhabitant Of The Largest Known Solar System
We know planets revolve around their host
star or stars. But is there any planet without its host star? Then we should
name 2MASS J2126-8140 which situated in the Octans constellation. Well, this
exoplanet is not exactly without a host star.
It’s host star is a red dwarf star which is 600 billion miles (965 billion
kilometers) away from the exoplanet. It has both the longest and the widest
orbit for a planetary mass object known.
“We were very surprised to find such a low-mass object so far from its parent
star,” said Dr Simon Murphy from the Australian National University (ANU).
“There is no way it formed in the same way as our solar system did, from a
large disc of dust and gas.”
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