Strangest Planets Known to Exist in Space
Space

Strangest Planets Known to Exist in Space

We all are aware of the fact that space is unusual as it is. Its unusualness is one of the reasons as to why people were taken aback with the night sky and space exploration from the beginning of life on Earth. There are things which cannot be explained and exceed beyond our understanding, and which also defy our traditional laws of physics. Thus, irrespective of the effort we put in to understand and comprehend our vast universe, there will always be strange things out there that are yet to be deciphered.

1. J1407b – An Exoplanet or A “Saturn On Steroids”

J1407b has been called as a “Saturn on steroids” or “Super Saturn” due to its huge system of circumplanetary rings which is nearly 640 times the size of Saturn’s rings. It is an exoplanet which is positioned at about 434 light years from Earth in the constellation of Centaurus and is the only known exoplanet with rings similar to that of Saturn. If this planet exchanged its place with Saturn, then its rings would overpower the Earth’s sky and would seem many times bigger than a full moon. There is a massive gap halfway through the ring system and it’s possible that a Mars-sized exomoon encircled the planet within this gap. If there are any aliens living on this exomoon, then they have a captivating view looking up into the sky.

2. Gliese 581c – A Potentially Habitable Exoplanet

Gliese 581c is also an exoplanet positioned at about 20 light years or 120 trillion miles from Earth in the constellation of Libra. The planet orbits its star at a distance of roughly 6.8 million miles (that is 10.9 million kilometers), only 7% of the 93 million miles (that is 150 million kilometers) distance between the Earth and the Sun.

Gliese 581c is tidally bolted, that is, one side of the planet becomes reconciled to the star and the other side never does. Therefore, the near side undergoes blazing temperatures which would instantly melt you alive, while the far side experiences freezing temperatures that would instantly turn you into a frozen state. Between these two extremes, therefore, lies a narrow strip of land with better conditions which could support alien life in theory. In the year 2008, we dispatched a radio message at Gliese 581c which is expected to reach the planet in the year 2029.

3. Gliese 436b – A Planet Defying The Laws Of Physics

Gliese 436b is an exoplanet which is positioned at about 30 light years from Earth in the constellation of Leo and it appears to go against the laws of Physics. This planet circles around its star at a distance of15 times closer than Mercury is to the Sun. The icy surface is swltering at a temperature of 439 °C (822 °F). So how is it possible for the ice of all things to remain absolutely steady at 439 degrees above its melting point? This is because of the gravity which is remarkably stronger that it can compress the remaining traces of amounts of water vapor in the planet’s atmosphere into solid ice and protects it from melting, no matter how much it burns. One orbit around the star takes nearly 2 days, 15.5 hours.

4. 55 Cancri E – A Diamond Planet

55 Cancri E is only around 40 light-years away from us and it is situated in the Cancer constellation. It is double the size of Earth. However, it is nearly 8 times more massive and double as dense. The parent star has much more carbon than our own Sun. Infact, the mass of the planet is believed to mainly comprise of the carbon. Because of the pressure and average maximum surface temperature of 4417 °F (2400 °C), this ‘Super-Earth’ is thought to be enveloped with diamonds.

It is so near to its parent star that it takes a minimal 18 hours for the planet to finish a full orbit.

The planet 55 Cancri e, for example, was phrased a “diamond planet” in the year 2012 due to the emergence of amount of carbon relative to oxygen was assumed to be too high.  Based on this estimation, a team hypothesized that the surface presence of immense carbon likely formed a graphite surface on the scalding Super-Earth, with a layer of diamond under it formed by the great pressures.

In a statement lead researcher Nikku Madhusudhan of Yale University said that this is their first glimpse of a world filled with rocks along with a intrinsically different chemistry from Earth. He also explained by further adding that the surface of this planet is most likely to be enveloped in graphite and diamond instead of water and granite.

As tends to happen in this early phase of exoplanet depiction, ensuing estimations brings about some doubt on the diamond hypothesis.  And in the year 2016, experts came up with a different scenario that 55 Cancri E was completely enveloped in lava.  But due to the heavy cloud and dust cover over the planet, a successive group casted doubts about the lava explanation.

5. Trappist-1

Let’s begin with the seven Trappist-1 planets.  The first three were spotted two decades ago, orbiting an ”ultra-cool” red dwarf star which was close by 40 light years away.  Investigations with the help of Hubble Space Telescope led astronomers conclude that two of the planets did not comprise of hydrogen-helium covers around them, meaning, that the prospects increased that the planets are rocky (rather than gaseous) and could have a tendency to hold water on their surfaces.

Then in the year 2016 a Belgian team, with the assistance of the Transiting Planets and Planetesimals Small Telescope (TRAPPIST) in Chile, discovered three more planets, and the solar system got named as Trappist-1.  The spotting of an additional outer planet was declared in the year 2017, and in total three of the seven planets was considered to be within the host star’s habitable zone, where liquid water was seem to be present.

So, we have a most fascinating 7-planet solar system quite close to us, and not astonishingly it has become the focus of much observation and examination. However we need to understand the very fact that  all seven of those planets circles around Trappist-1 at a distance much smaller than from our Sun to the first planet, Mercury.

The most extreme eccentric orbit found so far is HD 20782, measured at an eccentricity of .96, meaning, that that the planet moves in a nearly flattened ellipse, moving a long path far from its star and then making a quick and raging slingshot about the star at its closest motion.

Many exoplanets have eccentricities far larger than what is seen in our solar system planets however nothing like this most unusual traveler, which has a path which appears more like a comet than a planet.

Experts have concluded that the eccentricity of a planet tends to associate with the number of planets in the system, with various-planeted systems having far more regularly orbiting planets.

6. HD 219134

And then there’s another Super-Earth, which is also referred to as HD 219134. And before that it was known as a planet which has a tendency to feature wide collections of various important stones.

It is believed that during their creation, stars like that of the Sun were bordered by a disc of gas and dust in which planets were born. Rocky planets such as the Earth were created out of the solid bodies left over when the protoplanetary gas disc cooled and spread.

Unlike the Earth however, HD 219134 most probably does not have a huge core of iron which is a conclusion flowing through the estimates of its density.  Rather, by the means of modeling of formation scenarios for a burning Super-Earth close to its host star, the researchers comes to an end by concluding that the planet is likely to be rich in calcium and aluminum, along with magnesium and silicon.

This chemical composition would enable the presence of huge number of aluminum oxides. On Earth, crystalline aluminum oxide forms the mineral corundum. If the aluminum oxide comprises of the remains of iron, titanium, cobalt or chromium, it will lead to the creation of the noble forms of corundum, gemstones such as the blue sapphire and the red ruby.

7. Hd 189733b – Where It Rains Glass

HD 189773b is slightly bigger in size when compared to the Jupiter in our solar system, and is situated at around 62 light years away from Earth.

The planet gets its deep, fascinating azure color from the planet’s strange atmosphere which mainly comprises 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 mainly about 2 kilometers per second. Temperatures can also reach way over 900 °C (1652 °F) on the planet. What is horrid and scary about this planet is that it rains glass sideways along with oppressively rapid flowing winds.

.