by We all complain about the bad weather like cyclones and thunder which causes destruction on our planet. But we don't know about the wacky weather on other planets in our universe. There are some strange exoplanets in the cosmos which have terrible weather conditions and some weird phenomena happening. If we take a look at other exoplanets, things get way weirder and wilder. There are planets where it rains glass, where the entire surface is made of lava, even some have comet-like tails stretching along with them and the planets are made of diamonds. There are things we could not comprehend. Let's some of the crazier exoplanets around us.
Exoplanet where it rains molten Glass (HD 189733 b)
HD 189733 b exoplanet is present just 64.5 light-years from our Earth and it was spotted on the La Silla Telescope in Chile. The Exoplanet was spotted when the starlight from the host star crossed over the planet's atmosphere. The temperature on the surface of the planet is found by the sensing devices in the Spitzer Space Telescope. The rain on the planet is a bit weird as it rains molten glass on the planet. When the planet's chemical composition was observed, it was discovered that the planet's atmosphere consists of Magnesium Silicate (MgSiO3). The melting point of the magnesium silicate is 1900 degrees Celsius. As the planet revolves around its host star closer having an orbital period of just 53 hours.
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| Artistic illustration of the Gas Giant HD 189733 b. Credits: NASA/ESA |
When the melting point of the Magnesium Silicate is reached, the clouds precipitate the elements in the form of liquid glass and when it reaches the cooler layers of the atmosphere it solidifies into glass pieces which are pretty hot. This is not the best part yet, as the storms on the planet are pretty strong, 15 times faster than the speed of sound. The hot glass falling from the clouds will be lashed around by the high-speed wind on the planet. It is a Strange planet, isn't it? But it might not be the ideal planet to look for Aliens. It was even the first exoplanet for which a temperature heat signature map was constructed with the help of the telescope on Earth and the space Telescope.
Exoplanet with a comet-like tail (Gliese 436b)
Gliese 436B Orbits the red dwarf Gliese 436 and the exoplanet is one of the smallest we have observed, and the radius of the planet keeps on decreasing gradually. It has an orbital period of about 62.4 hours and since the planet is so close to its host red dwarf, the star heats up the atmosphere so much that the Hydrogen present in the atmosphere gets excited and starts to escape the planet's atmosphere. When the Hydrogen gas leaves the atmosphere, it starts to cool down and clouds are formed around the planet. The clouds get stretched along with the planet and a comet-like tail appears alongside the planet.
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| Gliese 436b captured on Hubble Space Telescope. Credits: NASA |
Because of its close proximity with the red dwarf, it experiences high gravity and heat which in turn produces heavier molecules. These conditions are ideal for producing the water, which is termed as Ice X which is formed because of the intense pressure. This excessive pressure and temperature force the water molecules to bond with a tight configuration, which allows the Ice to stay solid at high temperatures of over 400 degrees Celsius (752 degrees Fahrenheit). It still might not be the best place to look for alien life, but this exoplanet might give us a glimpse of what we could see in the near future in our space exploration.
The Diamond planet (55-Cancri E)
55-Cancri E exoplanet is 41 light-years away from the Earth and has an orbital period of fewer than 18 hours. It is a super-hot super-earth and it is also termed the diamond planet because of the presence of diamond and graphite. The surface temperature of the planet is super hot as it can reach temperatures up to 2,700 degrees Celsius (4,900 degrees Fahrenheit). Close observations were made on the planet with the help of the Spitzer Space Telescope and it was found that the components of the planets were in a "supercritical" fluid state.
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| 55-Cancri E near its host star. Credits: ESA |
The fascination factor of this exoplanet is the presence of the diamond core, but on close observation, it was found that the planet might not contain diamonds on its surface. The Surface might be made of lava and the atmosphere might contain helium and hydrogen. Theoretically, such a planet with a high carbon-to-oxygen ratio could exist and so there is a high chance of a diamond planet to endure. But the idea of diamonds on the entire surface seems to have fascinated the astrophysicists. There are future observational missions are planned to explore this exoplanet and this binary star system.
The Hot-Headed Exoplanet (HD 80606B)
HD 80606b is a gas giant which is approximately 190 light-years from our planet, but unlike Earth, it doesn't have a proper elliptical orbit. It has a remarkable eccentric orbit around its host star HD 80606, it revolves very close to the star at one point and backs out far away from the star, most of the time in its orbital period. It lies close to the start for only 24 hours and it retreats to its faraway orbit during its remaining orbital period. The 24 hours in which the exoplanet remains so close to the star that it actually creates a dramatic temperature change. This temperature change is so drastic that the whole atmosphere of the planet explodes.
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| Raging storms on HD80606 B. Credits: NASA/JPL |
This phenomenon was observed when the exoplanet was spotted around the host star HD 80606b in 2001, and since then the planet was observed by the Spitzer Space Telescope. The observation made from the telescope provided shocking results, as once the temperature of the surface of the planet dramatically changed over 700 degrees Celsius (1292 degrees Fahrenheit) within a span of 6 hours. On analyzing the temperature of the planet, it was found that the difference in temperature between the side facing the star and the side facing away from the star was so enormous that this actually creates a shock wave along the equator of the planet. This colossal Shockwave, actually tear up the entire atmosphere of the planet.
