In the last blog, we looked at exoplanets (planets in other solar systems) that show promising signs of supporting life from Earth. Today, we will be looking into planets that will not be able to support life as some of these planets are far too hot and some have rain, which instead of it being water, is glass!
The first exoplanet we will be looking at is my favorite: HD189733b. This planet is a gas giant, is around 1.1 times larger than Jupiter, and has an orbital period of two days; you might as well leave the New Year's decorations up then! Looking at this planet seems like it’s a calm planet with a blue haze, but once you enter its atmosphere, things get pretty violent. Its weather is extremely harsh with clouds condensing to produce rain that is not filled with water but with glass! The fun doesn’t stop there as the temperature is around 1300 degrees Celsius, explaining why it rains glass on this planet.
If you thought an orbital period of 2 days was short, you probably don’t want to hear about TOI-849b whose period is around 18 hours; that’s not even a full Earth day! Its orbit is so close to its parent star that surface temperatures reach 1530 degrees Celsius. This rocky planet is the largest rocky planet discovered, nearly 40 times as large as Earth.
Some exoplanets out there like to shy away from the spotlight like TrES-2b. This planet is around 750 light years away and is so dark that it was hard for the Kepler telescope to detect. This planet only reflects 1% of the light that hits it (Earth, for example, reflects 30% of its light). Unfortunately, due to this limiting factor, it’s hard for researchers to determine more of its composition and characteristics.
If you thought that the planets mentioned before were hot, wait until you hear about KELT-9b, whose surface temperatures reach 4300 degrees Celsius, much hotter than most stars in our universe! Its orbit with its parent star is so close that its atmosphere is composed of what’s inside Earth’s core: titanium and iron. A year on this planet is one and a half Earth days.
The next exoplanet we’ll discuss sort of likes to deviate from the norm in that it has its own special orbit. HR 5183b is three times the size of Jupiter and has an orbital period of 74 years. Most planets generally follow a somewhat elliptical orbit around its parent star, but HR 5183b has an orbit where it closely approaches its parent star and then slingshots back to the outer edge of its solar system. From this, it obtained its name, “whiplash planet.” Due to this strange orbit, it also interferes with other planets in the solar system, creating devastating effects.
Astronomers believe the Milky Way could be comprised of cosmic orphans, exoplanets that have broken free of their parent stars. They most likely formed like all other planets around their host stars but took up another orbit, out of its solar system due to the gravitational interactions with other planets.
There could be many of these rogue planets out there but it is nearly impossible for astronomers to detect because exoplanets are only discovered through the effect they create on their parent stars. However, it was a lucky day for a couple of astronomers when they were able to spot the lone planet, OGLE-2016-BLG-1928, (that sure is a mouthful!) This planet is not bound to its own system and is aimlessly wandering the Milky Way. To the dismay of some of us, living on this planet would not be ideal given that it doesn’t have a parent star for warmth and gravitational aid.
The next planet we will look at is WASP-12b. We keep looking at planets with close orbits to their parent star, which is the case for this planet, but the consequences of this close orbit are quite interesting. WASP-12b completes an Earth year in a day and its surface temperatures reach 2210 degrees Celsius, but that’s not the interesting part! Given that its orbit is so close to its star, the gravitational effects WASP-12b experiences are so immense that it makes the planet look like an egg. Unfortunately, because of its close orbit, WASP-12b will end in 3 million years when its host star will engulf it. In the meantime, it can just enjoy the gravitational pull of its star and its incredibly warm surface temperatures!
Stay tuned for future blogs where we’ll closely analyze some of these planets and their characteristics because who wouldn’t want to know why it rains glass on HD189733b?
Works Cited
Comments