Ten strangest planets (photos). “glass rain” and “scorched world”: the ten strangest planets in the universe (photo) The 10 strangest planets in the universe
Their stunning photographs and incredible stories surprised the whole world [photo]
The world around us is amazing and unpredictable - and primarily thanks to the unusual people living in different parts of the planet. Summing up the past year, the famous agency Barcroft Media presented a selection of the most impressive shots taken by its photographers in 2014. Among them are photographs of people whose incredible stories, unusual appearance or strange actions attracted attention and became small sensations in the press and on the Internet. One of the characters in this ten was not very lucky from birth - life did not spoil them, but, nevertheless, they were able to turn their fate for the better. The actions of others can be called eccentric, insanely brave or simply strange. One way or another, these people have one thing in common: their stories definitely cannot be called banal.
1. The tallest bride on the planet
Elizani da Cruz Silva was born in Brazil and grew up to be a completely healthy and beautiful child, except that she was unusually tall for her age. Now she is 19, and she officially holds the title of the tallest girl in Brazil: her height is 203 centimeters. It would seem that with such parameters it is not so easy to find a guy. No matter how it is: Elizani has been dating a handsome young man for three years, whom she is now planning to marry. Last year, the young people announced their engagement. The groom cannot be called tall: his height is 162 centimeters. Instead of having a complex and looking for an inch, the guy did the opposite - he fell in love with a beauty who was visible in all respects. The height difference between the lovers is 41 centimeters. However, for true love, height, like age, is not a hindrance.
24-year-old construction worker Francinaldo da Silva Carvalho is proud to have such a prominent girlfriend.
Friends ask how we hug, but it’s so simple! - Francinaldo laughs. – Elizani is a very beautiful person. Yes, she is tall, but it's so cool!
Now Elizani’s main dream is to become a mother as soon as possible. Due to gigantism caused by a tumor of the pituitary gland, she faces infertility, and doctors advised the girl not to delay motherhood. “If I don’t manage to give birth myself, I will adopt a baby,” says Elizani.
2. Gymnastics champion who was born without legs
This incredible story spread all over the world last November. 27-year-old American Jen Bricker was born without legs due to a genetic failure. Her parents abandoned her, and the girl was adopted by the Brickers. Having learned about her youthful dream of becoming a gymnast, her adoptive parents enrolled their daughter in a sports school at the age of 16. This decision not only gave Jen victory, but also revealed the secret of her birth. Like many aspiring gymnasts, the girl idolized the American athlete Dominique Helena Mosina-Canales, who won a gold medal at the 1996 Olympics. “You will never believe it, but your real name was Mosin,” the adoptive mother once admitted and showed her the documents. It turned out that the champion Dominique is Jen’s sister! Gymnastics was in her blood. Perhaps this is what helped the girl achieve success: she won the competition and became the state champion.
3. Boy with giant hands
Eight-year-old Kaleem, born in East India, shows a photographer his abnormally large hands. Each hand weighs 8 kilograms and reaches a length of 33 centimeters - from the base of the palm to the end of the middle finger. Kalim is not able to do many, even the simplest, things that boys his age do with ease. His parents earn only $22 a month and are desperately trying to find help for their son, but to no avail. Even those doctors who would like to help him do not know how to do it. Doctors cannot even accurately diagnose the boy, and suggest that the cause of his condition may be a lymphangioma (a benign tumor that often occurs during intrauterine development) or a hamartoma (a benign neoplasm that arises from the same tissues as the organ in which it is found). located).
4. A Hindu with a turban weighing 45 kilograms
Avtar Singh was photographed last July in the Indian city of Patiyala (Punjab). The man wears a huge traditional Punjabi turban called a pagdi every day. The headdress weighs 45 kilograms and consists of 645 meters of fabric - if unrolled, it would be 13 Olympic swimming pools long! The 60-year-old Indian man has been wearing it regularly for the past 16 years, despite the fact that it takes him six hours to wrap the turban. Avtar has constant problems with doorways and with car roofs, into which his headdress simply does not fit, but thanks to his turban, he is considered one of the most authoritative preachers in Punjab.
5. The 130-kilogram model is the dream of dwarf men
The 130-kilogram, two-meter American model Amanda Sule makes a living by fulfilling the innocent desires of short men who prefer larger ladies. For a certain amount of money, Amanda can carry you in her arms, let you ride on her, or sit astride you. But no intimacy! Amanda also willingly agrees to accompany men in public - in order to raise the status of her gentlemen in the eyes of the public. Amanda dreamed of becoming a model, but with her size, alas, it seemed unattainable. Suddenly she discovered a whole niche where she could make good money. With her enormous bust and 160cm hips, Amanda has won fans all over the world.
6. A 91-year-old bride and her 31-year-old groom
American Kyle Jones is 31 years old: at that age, you know, pick up young girls. But the guy from Pittsburgh is clearly not looking for the easy way out. Kyle started an affair with... 91-year-old Marjorie McCool. The couple met in 2009 in a bookstore, and since then they have been together - both soul and body.
Despite the age difference of as much as 60 years, Kyle and Marjorie claim that they have a very active sex life. Kyle experienced his first affair at the age of 18 with a 50-year-old lady, and since then he realized that he was drawn to older women. He longs with all his heart to marry Marjorie - if, of course, the bride lives to see this happy day. Kyle's mother (the blonde in the photo) approved of her son's choice.
Every person’s brain is structured differently, some guys prefer blondes, brunettes, some are even gay, but I like old women,” the young man assures.
7. The fattest bride in the world
Charity Pierce from Iowa now weighs 358 kilograms. Despite her impressive dimensions and the fact that she practically never leaves the house, the woman managed to find her love. Three years ago, Charity fell in love with a guy almost half her age: now her fiancé Tony Sauer is 22 years old. A woman dreams of wearing a white dress, cowboy boots and a hat to her wedding: “Tom and I are both fans of country music, so we decided to dress like that. Tony will also wear a cowboy outfit."
For gastrectomy - surgery to reduce it - she needs to lose at least 120 kilograms. The groom actively helps her with this by putting his beloved on a diet. The operation will save Charity's life - now her heart can hardly cope with maximum load. Charity Pierce has reduced the number of daily calories she consumes from 10 thousand to 1,200 calories, but the results are not yet visible: each time the arrow on the scale does not add optimism to the woman.
8. Bicep Man
56-year-old Arlindo de Souza is a Brazilian bodybuilder who has built up incredibly huge muscles, and in a rather dangerous way. A long-time fan of Arnold Schwarzenegger, he initially played sports honestly. And then he took it and pumped synthol into his muscles - a cocktail of mineral oil and alcohol. As a result, Arlindo became the owner of cartoonishly huge biceps. True, this did not make him stronger - he can still lift only normal weights.
9. Grizzly trainer
Doug Soos is one of the most famous trainers on the planet who has tamed grizzly bears. Doug allows himself to do things that no other person in the world would dare to do - for example, putting his head in a bear's mouth. On their ranch in Heber City, Utah, Doug and his wife Lynn have raised and raised four bears over the past four decades. The bears and their “parents” managed to work with a good dozen Hollywood stars - Brad Pitt, Jennifer Aniston and Eddie Murphy were filmed on their ranch. Bear Bart the Second, in whose mouth Doug’s head lies in the photo, recently starred in one of the episodes of the cult TV series “Game of Thrones”.
Bangalore became a celebrity in his hometown and inspired dozens of children to take up the sport. Gagan himself has already set a new bar for himself - to drive under a hundred cars.
Every day, NASA carefully studies the galaxy in search of new planets, stars and systems scattered throughout space. We have sent numerous probes into space, from Voyager 1 to Juno, designed to explore first our solar system and then go beyond it.
The Kepler spacecraft has discovered a large number of exoplanets that orbit stars other than our Sun. Because of this, many planets were named Kepler.
Even though we discover new planets every year, most of them are just cold pieces of rock orbiting unknown distant stars. But sometimes planets are discovered that are strange and unusual enough to cause awe even among famous astrophysicists. We have collected a selection of 10 such planets.
10. OGLE-2016-BLG-1195Lb. Planet Ice Ball
OGLE-2016-BLG-1195Lb is an icy planet located 13,000 light years from our solar system. The temperature on its surface ranges from -220 °C to -186 °C. Therefore, this planet is sometimes called an “ice ball”.
A light year is the distance that light travels in one year. The speed of light is almost 300,000 km/s and more than 1 billion km/h. Therefore, to see this huge ball of ice, you have to travel a long way.
It should be noted that the highest speed we are able to achieve today was achieved by the New Horizons space probe, launched in 2006 to explore Pluto, its moons and the Kuiper Belt. Then the device reached a speed of 58,000 km/h, which is far from the speed of light. Thus, we do not yet have the technology that would allow us to visit a neighboring system located only a few light years away.
That's why we use technologies that allow us to study distant stars and exoplanets at a distance, determine their mass and atmospheric composition. OGLE-2016-BLG-1195Lb was found using a microlensing technique that allows us to detect planets as they pass in front of their stars, and we can watch them dim for a while.
All ice on OGLE-2016-BLG-1195Lb is believed to consist of fresh water. This is good, although it is unlikely that we will be able to use this water in the future. If you travel at the speed of light, the journey to the exoplanet will take 13,000 years. However, it may be that this planet is already being used as a source of fresh water by some advanced alien race.
9. KELT-9b. Hot stuff
Photo: Robert Hurt/JPL/Caltech
KELT-9b is the hottest exoplanet ever discovered, and it's disappearing! At a distance of 650 light-years from us, KELT-9b is very close to its star. This means that one side of the planet is always facing the star, but the other is not.
The gas giant, about three times the size of our Jupiter, glows at a temperature of 4315 °C. This is much higher than the temperature of many stars and almost as hot as our Sun, which has a temperature of 5505 °C.
In a few million years, KELT-9b will burn up all its gases and disappear, leaving only its star alone.
8. GJ 1214b. Steamy water world
Photo: sci-news.com
GJ 1214b is a huge water world, three times the size of Earth and located 42 light years from our solar system. The mass of everything on the Earth's surface is 0.05% of its mass, and the mass of water from GJ 1214b is 10% of the planet's mass.
GJ 1214b is believed to have oceans that may be as deep as 1,600 km. For comparison, the deepest part of the ocean on our planet is the Mariana Trench, which is 11 km deep.
We've only been able to explore 5% of our oceans, and as a result we've discovered countless amazing creatures we never imagined. One can only imagine what terrible creatures lurk in the depths of the oceans on GJ 1214b.
7.PSR J1719-1438 b. Diamond Planet
Photo: futurism.com
PSR J1719-1438 b – a planet made of pure diamond! A large planet made of carbon, about five times the diameter of Earth, can be found 4,000 light-years from our solar system. Due to the enormous pressure caused by the gravitational forces of the planet, the carbon was greatly compressed and turned into a giant diamond.
This exoplanet orbits the millisecond pulsar PSR J1719-1438. Astronomers believe the pulsar was once a star that became a stellar corpse in a supernova. Rare millisecond pulsars typically form by consuming material from a nearby star.
In this case, the star was likely a white dwarf, like our Sun will become when it dies. A white dwarf is a remnant of a star that no longer has nuclear fuel. In this case, the pulsar used all the material from its white dwarf neighbor.
When the white dwarf had only 0.1% of its former mass left, it turned into an exotic crystalline “companion” of the pulsar - a diamond planet.
6. Kepler-16b. Real Tatooine
Kepler-16b is a real-life analogue of the planet from the Star Wars movie - Tatooine. This is because this planet is the only exoplanet ever discovered that orbits in a two-star system.
Kepler-16b has a mass of 105 Earth masses, and its radius is 8.5 times the radius of our planet. The atmosphere of this exoplanet consists of hydrogen, methane and a small amount of helium. Located approximately 200 light-years from our solar system, Kepler-16b completes an orbit around its two stars in 627 Earth years.
Although the planet resembles Tatooine, life on Kepler-16b is impossible. So don't expect any droids to be found there!
5. Kepler-10b. Scorched World
Photo: NASA/Kepler Mission/Dana Berry
Kepler-10b is the smallest exoplanet discovered to date, and its surface is believed to be covered in oceans of lava. Located 560 light-years from Earth, Kepler-10b was the first rocky planet found outside the solar system. This discovery was the first step of modern humanity towards the future exploration of deep space.
The temperature on the surface of the planet reaches 1400 °C. Under the influence of such high temperatures, rocks on the surface of the planet melt, unite into vast areas and turn into huge, scattered oceans scattered across the surface of the exoplanet. Due to the planet's high density, Kepler-10b is believed to contain a high percentage of iron, causing the lava to have a bright red hue.
4. TrES-2b. Dark Planet
Photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech/T. Pyle
TrES-2b is the darkest exoplanet ever found. It reflects less than 1% of the star's light falling on it. This makes it darker than jet black acrylic paint. In fact, the fact that we were able to discover this planet is a real miracle, since the light reflected from its surface is very poor.
This raises an important question: how many exoplanets remain undiscovered because they did not reflect enough light?
TrES-2b is located approximately 750 light-years from our Solar System. The planet's atmosphere contains vapors of sodium, potassium and titanium oxide, which absorb light. However, why the planet reflects so little light is still a mystery that may never be solved.
There may be an alien race living on this strange planet, but we just don't know about it.
3. HD 189733b. Planet with glass rains
Photo: ESO/M. Kornmesser
Perhaps one of the most interesting planets on our list, HD 189733b is located 63 light-years from the solar system and is special because it rains glass. Slanting rains. Yes, you heard right, that's true. The hellish wind on the planet can reach speeds of 8,700 km/h, causing any strange ones to become oblique.
The atmosphere, saturated with silicon dioxide, causes the planet's clouds to shed liquid glass, which, falling to the surface, hardens. Wind HD 189733b carries glass across the planet at such a speed that the fragments fly horizontally, cutting everything in its path. Imagine what would happen to you if you found yourself in such a storm.
2.55 Cancri e. Planet with mysterious water
Photo: ESA/Hubble, M. Kornmesser
55 Cancri e is close to its sun, so the water on its surface is both liquid and gaseous. This orbiting planet is 25 times closer to its star than our Mercury is to the Sun. And one full revolution is completed in 18 hours. It's very fast.
Because 55 Cancri e is closely tied to its star, one side of it is constantly facing the sun, while the other is not. As a result, the water on the half facing the star is in a supercritical state, being both a liquid and a gas.
55 Cancri e has about 7.8 times the mass of Earth, and the planet is twice the size of Earth.
1. CoRoT-7b. Planet with rocky snowfalls
Photo: ESO/L. Calcada
CoRoT-7b is a strange exoplanet with rocky snowfalls. Like many other exoplanets, this one is tied to its star and located close to it. On the side facing the star, the temperature reaches 2200 °C, and on the other it drops to -220 °C.
The lava on the side of the star heats up and begins to evaporate, just like water on our planet. This creates large rock clouds, which then cool on the colder side of the planet, where it rains rocks. If they could survive the extreme temperature conditions of this planet, it would be interesting to see.
On the hot side of the planet, magma rains, but on the cold side, magma solidifies before it falls to the ground, just like snow on Earth. This kind of snow will undoubtedly kill you if you get caught in it.
About thousands and millions of solar systems, about an indescribable multitude of other planets, all the time discovering new and new types of them. It is almost impossible to remember them all - they have long and complex names. But highlighting some is a joy.
Largest rocky planet
Kepler-10c
This planet is about 2.3 times larger than Earth, which does not mean that it is very large. In terms of size, it can be called a “mini-Neptune”. However, the planet is 17 times Earth's mass, much larger than expected.
The density of a planet shows that it is made of rocks and other solids, and this is important. Typically, a planet this size would be a gas giant like Jupiter or Saturn because its gravity would hold a mass of hydrogen and helium.
Wettest planet
GJ 1214b
This planet is also much larger than Earth. However, the mass of this planet depends not on rocks, but on water. Scientists estimate that most of GJ 1214b, discovered in 2009, consists entirely of water, although the surface temperature of this world is much higher than ours.
Scientists analyzed the planet's atmosphere by observing its passage against the background of a star. They found that the planet's atmosphere consists mostly of water, and therefore the surface is most likely watery. However, this is no ordinary water. Due to the high temperature and pressure, this water could be called "hot ice" and "super liquid" water.
This planet was apparently created far from its sun, in places where ice and water predominate. Over time, it gradually moved closer to the star. Scientists plan to begin an in-depth study of the planet in 2018.
Youngest planet
BD+20 1790b
Keep in mind that hardly any planet can be called “young.” Here, for example, is a planet 35 million years old. Compared to Earth, it is practically a child - Earth is about 100 times older. The planet in question slightly beat the record of the previous “youngest” planet - it was only 100 million years old.
Scientists hope this discovery will allow us to better understand how planets develop, especially since finding a young planet is incredibly difficult. Young planets are still more active than older ones, causing intense magnetic fields that generate sunspots and flares. All these phenomena throw off the indicators, so it is difficult to determine whether we see one planet or, for example, two. Until now, scientists do not know for sure whether the BD+20 1790b has a twin or not.
Oldest planet
Kapteyn B
The oldest known planet that could theoretically support life formed just two billion years after the Big Bang. This world is close enough to its star Kapteyn to support the existence of liquid water on the surface, unlike its twin, which is too distant and completely frozen.
The Kapteyn system itself is quite interesting. First, it is close to our own system. The system and its planets once belonged to a completely different mini-galaxy. Scientists theorize that our own galaxy, the Milky Way, engulfed this galaxy and destroyed it, scattering its systems across the outskirts. The remains of this devoured galaxy are found in Omega Centauri, a galaxy 16,000 light years away whose planets are not much younger than Kapteyn B.
Fastest planet
COROT-Exo-7b
This world weighs almost eight times more than Earth, but is half the size. In addition, this planet has one of the fastest orbits that scientists have observed.
While our planet completes its orbit around the Sun in almost 8,766 hours, this nimble planet orbits its star in 20 hours. Although it is not the hottest planet of all (we will talk about that later), it is among them. Scientists believe that the lava covering the surface of the planet is heated to 1000 - 1500 degrees Celsius.
This planet is also unique in how it was found. It is the first planet discovered using the transit method, which scientists typically use to measure planetary masses and radii.
Coldest planet
OGLE-2005-BLG-390L B
The coldest planet ever found is so far from its star that it takes 10 years to complete its orbit, and the star itself is tiny compared to ours. The average temperature of this barren world is about -200 degrees Celsius.
It also breaks the record for the farthest exoplanet from our world. It is more than 28,000 light years from Earth.
Hottest planet
Kepler 70-B
Kepler 70-B breaks not just one, but several records. Not only is it the hottest exoplanet, with a surface temperature of over 7,000 degrees Celsius, but it is also the closest orbit to its star. The distance between Mercury and the Sun, by comparison, is 65 times greater than the distance from Kepler 70-B to its star. The planet also moves at incredible speeds and is one of the smallest exoplanets.
The star on this planet is also very interesting. Typically, when a star becomes a red giant, it explodes. However, this star stabilized and returned to average size. In the process, planets - gas giants - were formed from its atmosphere.
Lightest planet
KOI-314c
This planet sets the record for the lightest exoplanet (size relative to mass). Although it has the same mass as Earth, its huge, plump atmosphere of hydrogen and helium makes it 60% larger than our world. In fact, it may once have had an even larger atmosphere, but the red dwarf burned away most of it.
To analyze the planet, scientists compared KOI-314c with its neighbor. The two worlds tug at each other by their own gravity, resulting in slight changes in transit time through the star. The second planet, KOI-314b, is much denser and weighs more than four times as much as Earth.
Darkest planet
TrES-2b
TrES-2b, despite its relative proximity to its star, is the darkest exoplanet yet discovered. In our own system, Mercury is also considered a very dark planet, reflecting only 10% of sunlight. This "darkness" prevents scientists from discovering the world - only by chance. TrES-2b reflects less than 1% of its star's light, making it almost as dark as charcoal or black acrylic paint.
Scientists are unsure as to why the planet's atmosphere is so dark. Some believe this may be due to the huge amount of sodium or titanium oxide in gas form.
The planet with the strangest orbit
Fomalhaut B, Zombie Planet
This planet got its creepy nickname when it seemed to rise from the dead. In 2008, the planet looked like a simple cloud of dust, but then returned to normal. And in the literal sense - this planet also moves like a zombie.
This planet has one of the strangest orbits among the planets, zigzag, and it is not clear why. At the closest point of its orbit it comes within 7.5 billion kilometers of the star, but sometimes the orbit lies 45 billion kilometers from the star.
Perhaps the planet was pulled out of its original position by a large planet. Adding to this suspicion is a large gap in the cloud of dust and ice surrounding the star, so perhaps this other planet is there.
Based on materials from listverse.com
Our Universe is full of amazing and inexplicable things. For example, today scientists have discovered hypervelocity stars that do not fall and are not meteorites, giant clouds of dust with the aroma of raspberries or smelling of rum. Astronomers have also discovered many interesting planets outside our solar system.
Osiris or HD 209458 b is an exoplanet near the star HD 209458 in the constellation Pegasus, located at a distance of more than 150 light years from Earth. HD 209458 b is one of the most studied exoplanets outside the Solar System. The radius of Osiris is close to 100,000 kilometers (1.4 times the radius of Jupiter), while the mass is only 0.7 that of Jupiter (approximately 1.3 1024 tons). The distance of the planet to the parent star is very small - only six million kilometers, so the period of its revolution around its star is close to 3 days.
Scientists have discovered a storm on the planet. It is assumed that there is a wind blowing from carbon monoxide (CO). The wind speed is approximately 2 km/s, or 7 thousand km/h (with possible variations from 5 to 10 thousand km/h). This means that the star quite strongly heats up the exoplanet located from it at a distance of only 1/8 of the distance between Mercury and the Sun, and the temperature of its surface facing the star reaches 1000°C. The other side, which never turns towards the star, is much cooler. The large temperature difference causes strong winds.
Astronomers were able to establish that Osiris is a comet planet, that is, a strong flow of gases constantly flows from it, which is blown away from the planet by the radiation of the star. At the current rate of evaporation, it is predicted that it will be completely destroyed within a trillion years. A study of the plume showed that the planet evaporates entirely - both light and heavy elements leave it.
The scientific name of the rock shower planet is COROT-7 b (previously it was called COROT-Exo-7 b). This mysterious planet is located in the constellation Monoceros at a distance of about 489 light years from Earth and is the first rocky planet discovered outside the solar system. Scientists speculate that COROT-7 b may be the rocky remnant of a gas giant the size of Saturn that was "evaporated" by the star to its core.
Scientists have found that on the illuminated side of the planet there is a vast lava ocean, which forms at a temperature of about +2500-2600°C. This is higher than the melting point of most known minerals. The planet's atmosphere consists mainly of evaporated rock, and deposits rocky sediments on the dark side and the light side. The planet is probably always facing the star with one side.
Conditions on the illuminated and unlit side of the planet are very different. While the illuminated side is a churning ocean in continuous convection, the unlit side is likely covered by a huge layer of ordinary water ice.
The planet Methuselah - PSR 1620-26 b, located in the constellation Scorpius at a distance of 12,400 light years from Earth, is one of the oldest exoplanets currently known. According to some estimates, its age is about 12.7 billion years. The planet Methuselah has a mass 2.5 times greater than Jupiter and orbits an unusual binary system, both components of which are burnt-out stars that have long completed their active evolutionary phase: a pulsar (B1620−26 A) and a white dwarf (PSR B1620−26 B). In addition to this, the system itself is located in the densely populated core of the globular star cluster M4.
A pulsar is a neutron star that rotates 100 times per second around its axis, emitting strictly periodic pulses in the radio range. The mass of its companion, a white dwarf, which manifests itself as a periodic violation of the accuracy of the “ticking” of the pulsar, is 3 times less than the Sun. The stars revolve around a common center of mass at a distance of 1 astronomical unit from each other. A full rotation occurs every 6 months.
Most likely, the planet Methuselah is a gas giant without a solid surface, like Earth. The exoplanet completes a full revolution around the binary star in 100 years, being located at a distance of about 3.4 billion kilometers from it, which is slightly greater than the distance between Uranus and the Sun. Born very early in the history of the Universe, PSR 1620-26 b appears to be almost devoid of elements such as carbon and oxygen. For this reason, it is very unlikely that there has ever been or is life on it.
Gliese 581c is an exoplanet in the planetary system of the star Gliese 581 at a distance of about 20 light years from our planet. Gliese 581c is the smallest planet ever discovered outside our system, but is 50 percent larger and 5 times more massive than Earth. The planet's rotation period around a star located at a distance of about 11 million kilometers is 13 Earth days. As a result, despite the fact that the star Gliese 581 is almost three times smaller than our Sun, in the sky of the planet its native sun looks 20 times larger than our star.
Although the exoplanet’s orbital parameters are located in the “habitable” zone, the conditions on it are more similar not to those on Earth, as was previously thought, but to the conditions on Venus. Substituting its known parameters into a computer model of the development of this planet, experts came to the conclusion that Gliese 581c, despite its mass, has a powerful atmosphere with a high content of methane and carbon dioxide, and the temperature on the surface reaches +100°C due to the greenhouse effect. So, apparently, there is no liquid water there.
Due to its proximity to the star Gliese 581 c, it is affected by tidal forces and can always be located on one side towards it or rotate in resonance, such as Mercury. Due to the fact that the planet is at the very bottom of the light spectrum we can see, the planet's sky is a hellish red color.
TrES-2b is the blackest planet known as of 2011. It turned out to be blacker than coal, as well as any planet or satellite in our solar system. Measurements showed that TrES-2b reflects less than one percent of incoming sunlight, less than even black acrylic paint or carbon black. Researchers explain that this gas giant lacks bright reflective clouds (like those found on Jupiter and Saturn) due to its very high surface temperature - more than 980°C. This is not surprising, given that the planet and its star are separated by only 4.8 million kilometers.
This planet is located about 760 light years from the solar system. It is almost the same size as Jupiter and orbits a star similar to the Sun. TrES-2b is tidally locked so that one side of the planet always faces the star.
Scientists speculate that TrES-2b's atmosphere likely contains light-absorbing substances, such as sodium and potassium vapor or titanium oxide gas. But even they cannot fully explain the intense blackness of the strange world. However, the planet is not completely pitch black. It is so hot that it produces a faint red light like a burning ember.
HD 106906 b - This gas giant, which is 11 times larger than Jupiter, is located in the constellation of the Southern Cross about 300 light-years from Earth and appeared approximately 13 million years ago. The planet orbits its star at a distance of 97 billion kilometers, which is 22 times the distance between the Sun and Neptune. This is such a great distance that light from the parent star reaches HD 106906 b only after 89 hours, while Earth receives sunlight after 8 minutes.
HD 106906 b is one of the loneliest known planets in the Universe. In addition, according to modern models of the formation of cosmic bodies, a planet cannot form at such a distance from its star, so scientists assume that this lone planet is a failed star.
HAT-P-1 b is an extrasolar planet orbiting the yellow dwarf ADS 16402 B, located 450 light-years from Earth in the constellation Lizard. It has the largest radius and lowest density of any known exoplanet.
HAT-P-1 b belongs to the class of hot Jupiters and has an orbital period of 4.465 days. Its mass is 60% of the mass of Jupiter, and its density is only 290 ± 30 kg/m³, which is more than three times less than the density of water. It is safe to say that HAT-P-1 is the lightest planet. Most likely, this exoplanet is a gas giant consisting mainly of hydrogen and helium.
A planet with an incredibly huge system of planetary rings
1SWASP J140747.93-394542.6 b or J1407 b for short is a planet that contains approximately 37 rings, each of which is tens of millions of kilometers in diameter. It revolves around a young solar-type star J1407, periodically covering the light of the star with its “sarafan” for a long period of time.
Scientists have not decided whether this planet is a gas giant or a brown dwarf, but it is definitely the only one in the system of its star and is located at a distance of 400 light years from Earth. The ring system of this planet is the first discovered outside the solar system and the largest known at the moment. Its rings are much larger and heavier than those of Saturn.
According to measurements, the radius of these rings is 90 million kilometers, and the total mass is a hundred times the mass of the Moon. For comparison: the radius of Saturn's rings is 80 thousand kilometers, and the mass, according to various estimates, ranges from 1/2000 to 1/650 of the mass of the Moon. If Saturn had similar rings, then we would see them at night from Earth with the naked eye, and this phenomenon would be much brighter than the full moon.
In addition, there is a visible gap between the rings, in which scientists believe a satellite was formed, whose rotation period around J1407b is about two years.
Gliese 436 b is an exoplanet located 33 light years from Earth and located in the constellation Leo. It is comparable in size to Neptune - 4 times larger than Earth and 22 times heavier. The planet orbits its parent star in 2.64 days.
The amazing thing about Gliese 436 b is that it is primarily composed of water, which remains in a solid state at high pressure and a surface temperature of 300°C - “burning ice”. This is due to the enormous gravitational force of the planet, which not only prevents water molecules from evaporating, but also compresses them, turning them into ice.
Gliese 436 b has an atmosphere composed primarily of helium. Observations of Gliese 436 b using the Hubble Space Telescope in the ultraviolet revealed a huge tail of hydrogen trailing behind the planet. The length of the tail reaches 50 times the diameter of the parent star Gliese 436.
55 Cancri e is a planet located in the constellation Cancer at a distance of about 40 light years from Earth. 55 Cancri e is 2 times larger than Earth in size and 8 times larger in mass. Because it is 64 times closer to its star than the Earth is to the Sun, its year lasts only 18 hours, and the surface heats up to 2000°K.
The composition of the exoplanet is dominated by carbon, as well as its modifications - graphite and diamond. In this regard, scientists suggest that 1/3 of the planet consists of diamonds. According to preliminary calculations, their total volume exceeds the size of the Earth, and the cost of the subsoil of 55 Cancri e can be 26.9 nonillion (30 zeros) dollars. For example, the GDP of all countries on Earth is 74 trillion. (12 zeros) dollars.
Yes, many discoveries sound no more realistic than science fiction and turn all scientific ideas upside down. And we can confidently say that the most unusual planets are still waiting to be discovered and will surprise us more than once.
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Astronomers have been studying the planets of the solar system for many centuries. The first of them were discovered due to the unusual movement of some luminous bodies in the night sky, different from other, non-moving stars. The Greeks called them wanderers - “planan” in Greek.
The very complex nature of the entire planetary system was first pointed out by the famous Galileo, who, having examined Jupiter through a telescope, noticed how other celestial bodies revolved around this gas giant. The first planet located outside our solar system was discovered only in 1994.
The article presents some of the most unusual planets in the Universe.
General information
The alien world has not yet been fully explored and is mysterious. Dr. Alexander Wolschan observed unusual changes in the signal from the pulsar of the star Beta Pictoris. He proved the existence of several planets in orbit. After that, another 1,888 exoplanets were discovered, which radically changed astronomers’ ideas about space, about the methods of formation of celestial bodies, and even about the development of the Universe over more than 13 billion years.
There are planets in the Universe that are so unusual that they look more like science fiction than real celestial bodies.
Below are 10 unusual planets.
TrES-2b
Its other names are black hole planet or light-eating planet.
It is close in size to Jupiter. It is located about 750 light years away. This planet absorbs so much light that it is considered the darkest among the known objects of the Universe. It is a gas giant like Jupiter, but it reflects less than one percent of the light. Therefore, this celestial body is very dark and very difficult to detect. Yet it is a hot planet that gives off a reddish, dim glow.
HD 209458b
The planet Osiris is located in the constellation Pegasus at a distance of approximately 150 light years. It is also larger than Jupiter by about 30%. The orbit of Osiris is 1/8 the distance from the Sun to Mercury, and the Fahrenheit temperature on this planet is approximately 1832 degrees.
The pressure and heat of a gas planet cause the various gases contained in its atmosphere to evaporate violently, like air from a balloon. This unusual planet stunned astronomers.
HAT-P-1
It is larger than Uranus and seems to float in water. Thanks to this, it is classified as an unusual celestial body.
This is a recently discovered gas giant that is half the size of Jupiter. However, the planet looks unusual.
HD 106906 b
Among the most unusual planets (see photo below) is the charming HD 106906 b of the constellation Krax. It is the loneliest planet, located 300 light years from Earth. In size it is 11 times larger than Jupiter.
This is a real discovery of modern times. Despite its colossal size, it orbits its star at a distance 20 times greater than the distance between Neptune and the Sun, which is approximately 60,000,000,000 miles.
J1407 b and its rings
This unusual planet was discovered in 2012. The distance from Earth to it is 400 light years. The planet has its own ring system, the dimensions of which are 200 times larger than Saturn.
The ring system is so large that if applied to Saturn, they would dominate Earth's sky. This planet is much larger than the full moon.
Methuselah
It is unusual in that it is about a billion years younger than the universe. It was believed that Methuselah's age could not be about 13 billion years due to the lack of materials in the Universe for its formation. And yet it is 3 times older than the Earth.
An unusual planet moves among the stars of the constellation Scorpio, bound together by gravity.
CoRoT-7b
This celestial body was the first rocky planet discovered in the orbit of another star. Astronomers speculate that it was once a giant gas planet like Saturn and Neptune, but that gas levels in the atmosphere dropped due to its close proximity to the star.
The planet always faces the star with one side, on which the temperature is 4000 degrees Fahrenheit. The other side is frozen (350F). All this explains the occurrence of stone rains.
Gliese 436 b
It is a burning ball of ice. This unusual planet is about the size of Neptune, but 20 times the size of Earth.
The temperature on this planet is 822 degrees Fahrenheit. Due to the fact that the hot ice on the planet is held by enormous gravitational forces, water molecules do not evaporate and do not leave the planet.
The young star Fomalhaut has such a wonderful name, along with the space debris surrounding it. All this together looks like a giant eye looking out from outer space. It is eternal and does not blink.
Space debris from rocks, ice and dust creates a giant disk around the eye, which is 2 times larger than the entire solar system.
55 Cancri
This Super-Earth planet was discovered in 2004. Its dimensions are 2 times larger than the Earth. Temperatures reach 3900 degrees Fahrenheit. The large, rocky planet is made mostly of carbon, transformed into graphite and diamond. Taking into account the current value of the diamond (according to market estimates), the value of the planet is $26.9 nonillions.
This richest object is located about 40 light years from planet Earth.