Explore
AMong The many joys of traveling, escaping the standard is a higher draw. On Earth, it’s a little more difficult than you think. The different climates of our planet may seem distinct, but they are commonplace compared to what is other. We have to go further – and I mean really further – to live something really strange.
With science as a guide, let’s visit the extraterrestrial worlds with some of the most extreme, terrifying, beautiful and bizarre climates of the known universe. Our route includes seven stops. We start in our solar system.
First judgment: Neptune
On Neptune, we hope you can withstand freezing temperatures and bone grinding pressure. Prepare for a pale turquoise sky, clouds and a chance of diamond rain.
The upper atmosphere of Neptune is a scary degrees of -396 degrees Fahrenheit. When you go down to the surface, you will meet clouds of methane and other hydrocarbons, which liquidate further. As light fades, pressure and heat are built. When the temperature reaches that of the earth, methane could begin to collapse, its carbon atoms reform in the form of diamonds, which would fall towards the heart of the planet. Oh, then there is the wind.
Neptune winds are the strongest in the solar system – more than 1,200 miles per hour, far beyond the speed of sound. Why is a mystery. On other planets with such supersonic winds, the energy of their star causes the gale, but Neptune is too far from the sun for this explanation. Such intense winds can prepare terrible storms, but unlike the large red spot of Jupiter, an anticyclone of hundreds of years which presents winds up to 400 miles per hour, the storms of Neptune do not seem to last so endlessly, so at least there is this.
Second stop: 55 cancs e
For our next stop, we bring heat. If you have always wanted to visit an active volcano, 55 cancri e is for you. At least half of its surface is lava. However, a lack of somewhere standing is an insignificant drawback from the certainty of being vaporized.
Located about 41 -light years, 55 cancri E is very close to its star – a hard year less than two days of the earth – and locked by the tide, a bit like our moon: trapped in the sunlight, the corner of the day is around 3500 degrees Fahrenheit, or “hot enough to melt all types of known rock”, explained Michael Zhang, of the University of Chicago. The lava is so hot that it would not seem red, as we could imagine on earth, but would rather shine with pale yellow.
You will probably still have an ocean of lava.
55 Cancri E is too close to his star for having supported the atmosphere he had during his first training. But in one way or another, he has one – 55 cancri e would probably be warmer if he had not somethingSaid Zhang. It is believed that this secondary atmosphere is made up of carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide, created by gases from the lava ocean in a constant cycle of creation and annihilation. The shiny clouds, probably in silicates, could also reflect part of the heat of the star.
The side of the night offers little relief: it is much hotter than the earth, at around 2,509 degrees Fahrenheit. Most rocks melt between 1,100 and 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit, so you will probably have an ocean of lava – although cooler, with an orange shade. The difference from day to evening is large enough for some of these clouds to even condense. The nocturnal side is also dark, so you are less likely to spot the reformed rocks that could fall on you from these clouds, as being bombed with gravel.
Third judgment: very-2 B
Our third destination is one for Goths: Tres-2 B holds the honor of being the darkest exoplanet ever found in orbit in orbit.
This gas giant absorbs almost all the light that strikes it, barely reflecting anything in space. For comparison, coal – the least thoughtful natural material on earth – increases 95% of light. VERY-2 B absorbs 99.9%, which makes it darker than black acrylic paint, but not as absorbent as more exotic substances, like Vantablack.
Scientists do not know why this world is so dark, but they know that very -2 B is very, very hot – on its everyday edge, temperatures reach approximately 3,140 degrees Fahrenheit. In fact, the only light scientists have observed from the planet seems to be an entirely thermal program. “If you are in a spacecraft while flying, it would not be invisible, even if it is the darkest world,” said David Kipping, astronomer at Columbia University. “He shines like an iron of fire.”
How brilliant is it? Well, if very very-2 B was in our solar system, it would be thousands of times brighter than Venus. It is partly because very-2 B is enormous compared to our most brilliant neighbor, with a mass of about 1.5 jupiters.
However, cross the side of the night and the temperature drops considerably. Dazzling the star, it is quite cool that a large part of the radiant heat of the planet is no longer visible, but a deep crimson glow can remain. There could even be clouds, although what kind of a mystery.
Fourth judgment: kelt-9 b
At this point, you thought you knew hot. But you did not know Kelt-9 b. Super-jupiter, the planet is locked at the tide in its star and has the strange distinction of the orbaison perpendicularly.
On its edge of days, the planet accumulates about 7,800 degrees Fahrenheit, almost as hot as the surface of our sun, and warmer than many other stars found in our galaxy. And because he is so close to his host, he is bathed in radiation. If you have already wondered what it is to be on a star, then Kelt-9 B is your opportunity.
The planet seems to tear.
Unfortunately, you will not feel anything for a long time, because Kelt-9 B is so hot that scientists believe that molecules are torn in their constituent atoms. At least part of the heat on the edge of the day is transferred to the edge of the night, so there must be a wind, which probably repels these atoms. There, they could reform, become temporarily molecules … only to be torn again.
In fact, the planet seems to tear. Scientists think that Kelt -9 B zooms out around his star – his orbit lasts about 2 and a half days – he disintegrates, evaporating so quickly that he could even have a vaporized tail of material, like a comet. According to an estimate, its atmosphere loses the equivalent of 18 to 68 land en masse every billions of years, so be sure to visit before it left.
Fifth Stop: HD 189733 B
By far, HD 189733 B could be confused with our own planet. As approaching, it would seem strangely as the famous image of the “pale point” of traveling from the earth – a cobalt ball, suspended in the void.
A Gassy planet a little larger than Jupiter, HD 189733 B is blue, warm and extremely windy. Its winds howl up to 5,400 miles per hour, seven times the speed of sound and far beyond everything in our solar system.
Indeed, the violent storms of this world, the decrease in the atmosphere and the turbulent winds are among the worlds most hostile to life (as we know) that we have never discovered.
If you are caught in this maelstrom, you will discover what NASA called a “death by a thousand cuts”. It is because it rains the melted glass, laterally. The silicates in the atmosphere on the edge of the day will be blown by the winds to the edge of the night, a transition that comes with a drop in temperature of 500 degrees-fahrenheit, enough for them to condense in small droplets which, because of the wind, would not fall as long as the FLING. You can compare the experience to be held inside a world -sized torch, a blower and sand at the same time.
To worsen things, HD 189733 B seems to have hydrogen sulfide in its atmosphere, which means that it really is: on earth, this colorless gas causes the smell of rotten egg that you may have had the misfortune to sniff while walking by an open sewer.
Sixth judgment: GJ 9827 D
To date, you probably want a bath, if not something other than rubbing the stench of a discharge of the size of Jupiter. GJ 9827 D can do you better: perhaps among the most bizarre planets to date, this world is made up almost entirely of water.
Water vapor, to be correct. The planet is estimated at around 450 degrees Fahrenheit, or around the same temperature as the surface of Venus, and has a possible rocky interior wrapped in a thick and aqueous atmosphere. This complex and heavy atmospheric makeup is similar to rocky planets in our solar system.
It is an enticing idea: water is a key ingredient for life. However, this so-called “vapor world” would be too warm to be welcoming to life as we know it. But what about what we don’t know? GJ 9827 D very existence suggests that there can be other water -laden worlds, opening a new avenue for astrobiologists in search of extraterrestrial life.
Final destination: WASP-76 B
We finish this tour in a boost.
Very similar en masse to Jupiter, Gasp-76 B, giant gas, is another world that exists very close to its star, which means that it is also incredibly hot.
Hot enough to spray lead and iron on its edge of days, which always faces its star. The winds of the boating of the wasp-76 B probably fuck this metal vapor on its night edge, where they could condense and fall in the form of iron rain.
What is missing in hospitality, the planet can compensate in beauty. Astronomers believe that the atmosphere of the wasp-76 B can produce an effect of “glory”, which is essentially a tip of light that looks like something that looks like a medieval halo from saint to rainbow.
Although it appears almost as a circular rainbow, a glory is very clean and requires very distinct and rare conditions. Atmospheric particles must be spherical, uniform and form stable clouds that last for a long time. The WASP-76 B star must shine directly in this atmosphere patch, and so that we saw it, our instruments should also look in the right place.
