From a planet with "Hot Ice" to one possibly made of diamonds, today we look at the Top
10 STRANGEST Planets In Space
#10.
“Life in Infrared”-The Gliese 581 Planetary System is located in the constellation Libra
and is about 20 light years away from Earth.
The system revolves around a tiny red dwarf star and holds many planets that scientists
consider having the possibility of supporting life.
One of these planets is Gliese 581 C, the third planet from the star which has an orbit
that only takes 13 days.
This planet is classified as a super-Earth planet because it is just over 5 times the
size of Earth.
When it was first discovered it was considered to be a strong candidate for supporting life
but many scientists claim that because it is so close to its star that life is unlikely.
The planet is strange because it is tidally locked in its orbit, so the same side is always
facing the star.
Because of this, the temperatures on the nearside are believed to be in excess of 500 degrees
celsius, with the far side being beyond freezing cold.
If there were to be life on the planet it would have to adapt to being barraged by an
insane amount of infrared light.
Because of this, any life on the planet would probably be very dark in color, with scientists
speculating that if plants could survive they would probably be black.
#9.
“Long-Distance Relationship”- HD 106906 is a star system located about 300 light years
from Earth within the constellation known as Crux or The Southern Cross.
The system that is centered around a 13 million year old pre-main-sequence star that is about
one and a half times larger than our Sun.
There is only one known planet orbiting the star and that is HD106906 b.
This planet is a gas giant that is over 11 times bigger than Jupiter.
The planet has the unique designation of being one of the loneliest planets known to man,
as it orbits at a farther distance from its star than any other planet identified.
Its orbits its star from an estimated distance of 60 billion miles away, which is over twenty-one
and a half times further than Neptune is from our sun.
Because the planet is still fairly young in galactic age, it still emits extreme amounts
of heat leftover from its formation.
So while you’d think a planet this far away from its host star would be quite cold, its
temperature is estimated to be around 1,500 degrees Celsius.
#8.
“The Dark World”-The gas giant known as TrES-2b is about the same size as Jupiter
and orbits a yellow-main sequence star, similar to our sun, about 750 light years away from
us.
This planet is strange due to its distinction of being the darkest planet ever discovered.
Astronomers say that the planet appears to be pitch black, darker than coal with parts
that emit a slightly reddish glow.
The main theory behind its dark appearance is that it has an atmosphere made up of titanium
oxide and a gas form of sodium plus possibly other undiscovered elements that make it the
least reflective planet known to man.
The planet was discovered by the Kepler spacecraft, which used light sensors to try and detect
planets that dim their star’s light as they pass.
This was no small feat discovering TrES-2b as the dimming of its star was so minute that
it could be compared to trying to spot an ant crawling on a stadium light.
#7.
“The Ancient One”- PsR B1629-26b known more easily by its nickname of Methuselah
is the oldest planet ever discovered.
It is located over 1200 light years away in the constellation Scorpio, where it orbits
two stars, a white dwarf and a pulsar.
The planet is an estimated 12.7 billion years old which makes it only about a billion years
younger than the universe itself and three times as old as Earth.
Its discovery shocked astronomers and scientists as before it was found they believed that
planets could not be this old, theorizing that the first planets didn’t form until
years and years after Methuselah’s suspected birth.
The planet is also located in a globular star cluster which weren’t believed to be able
to be home to planets because of their age and preconceived lack of the necessary heavier
elements within these systems.
Methuselah is about 2.5 times the mass of Jupiter and is speculated as being a gas giant
itself.
#6.
“Featherweight Giant”- In the constellation of Lacerta is a binary star system made up
of two stars that are similar to our sun: ADS 16402 A and B.
The B star is also known as HAT-P-1 and orbiting it is HAT-P-1b, one of the most bizarre planets
in the universe.
This star system is located approximately 450 light years away from us and so far HAT-P-1b
is the only planet that has been spotted in it.
But this special planet holds the record for being the least dense of any planet that has
been discovered so far.
This is especially astounding because the planet is almost one and half times larger
than that of Jupiter in diameter.
The planet is so light that if you condensed it into a one meter cube it wouldn’t even
weigh 300 kilograms.
Because of its lack of mass if you were to have a body of water in which to put the planet
you would be amazed to see that it would float!
HAT-P-1 is also remarkably close to its star, taking just under 5 days to complete its orbit.
#5.
“Black Inferno”- WASP-12b is an exoplanet that was recently discovered orbiting the
star WASP-12 which is located in the constellation Auriga, about 1,400 light years away.
This amazing planet is a gas giant about twice the size of Jupiter which orbits very closely
to its sun, making the trip around about once a day.
Because it is so close in proximity to the star and the fact that it is tidally locked,
it is believed to be the hottest planet ever discovered with temperatures that reach almost
5,000 degrees.
However, this is only on the side closest to its star as the always-dark far-side is
around 2,000 degrees cooler allowing for an atmosphere to form that is potentially full
of clouds and water vapor.
Just like the planet TrES-2b, WASP-12b is extremely unreflective, only reflecting 6%
of the light that hits its atmosphere, which gives it a pitch black appearance.
#4.
“Here Come the Suns”-In the constellation of Cygnus about 151 light years away there
is one of the coolest star systems ever discovered.
HD 188753 is a triple star system.
In this example of a triple star system there is one main star similar to that of the Sun,
which is in turn orbited by two smaller stars that orbit each other.
What is even more astounding is that there is a possible planet, called HD 188753 Ab,
that orbits around one of the smaller stars.
This would make this planet the first one ever discovered within a triple star system
and also means that the planet orbits around a star which orbits around a star which orbits
around another star.
These types of planets ares sometimes referred to as ‘Tatooine’ planets because of their
resemblance to the two-sunned home planet of Luke Skywalker in the Star Wars movies.
#3.
“Fire and Ice” -An estimated 30 light years from Earth headed towards the constellation
Leo is a planetary system that revolves around a red dwarf known as Gliese 436.
Though there are three other planets that have been reported, there is only one that
has been confirmed so far: Gliese 436b.
This planet, roughly the size of Neptune, sits very close to its star taking only two
and a half days to complete its orbit.
Because of its unique characteristics, being too big to be considered a super-Earth planet
yet being far denser than most gas giants, astronomers believe that it doesn’t have
a completely hydrogen make-up, like other planets its size.
Instead they theorize that may have a rocky core that is covered with massive amounts
of a strange form of ice-water.
Because the planet is so close to its star its temperatures are estimated as being almost
one-thousand degrees Fahrenheit or 540 degrees Celsius.
So how could ice possibly remain in its solid state in these exceedingly hot temperatures?
Well because of the incredibly intense gravity on the planet the water molecules can’t
separate from each other, resulting in a form of water-ice known as Ice-10.
#2.
“A World’s Best Friend”- About 40 light years away in the constellation Cancer you
will find the binary star system 55 Cancri.
Orbiting around the larger G-type star known as Copernicus is the rocky planet 55 Cancri
E which also goes by the nickname Janssen.
This tidal locked planet is classified as a Super-Earth planet because of its mass of
eight and half times that of Earth’s.
The planet is incredibly close to its star, with a year that last only 18 hours.
Because of its close proximity is believed that the surface of the planet that faces
the star is more that three-thousand degrees Fahrenheit or sixteen hundred degrees Celsius.
Due to this extreme heat the surface of the planet is probably mainly molten lava.
The most fascinating thing about Janssen is its elemental make-up, which was initially
theorized as having a carbon to oxygen ratio greater than one.
This would mean that unlike the planets in our solar system which are based on oxygen,
Janssen is based in carbon.
Because of this, the planet became known as ‘the diamond planet’ because such an elemental
make-up would probably result in the planet consisting largely of graphite and diamonds.
Astronomers theorized that if this were the case that the resources of the planet would
be worth a whopping 26.9 nonillion dollars.
Which means that one would only have to mine 0.18 percent of the diamonds on Janssen to
pay off all the debt in the world.
However, recent studies have found out that there is probably more oxygen on the planet
than initially theorized, though the planet would still most likely be made up of an astounding
amount of precious minerals.
#1.
“Lord of the Rings”- The 16 million year old star system that revolves around the sun-like
star J1407 is about 420 light years away in the constellation Centaurus.
There has only been one planet discovered so far in the system but it is a galactic
behemoth.
The planet known as J1407b is so massive that some have put it in the brown dwarf category,
which mean it’s too small to be a star, yet too big to be a planet.
For the sake of study, most astronomers refer to it as a large gas giant.
Its size is estimated as being somewhere between 15 and 25 times the size of the planet Jupiter
and its year is theorized as possibly lasting longer than an Earth decade.
The most jaw-dropping fact about J1407b is its system of planetary rings which astronomers
estimate to be over 200 times larger than the ring system on Saturn.
The series of 30 rings are so enormous and sprawling that if you were able to replace
saturn’s rings with that of J1407b’s, we would be able to easily see them from Earth
and they would appear even larger in the sky than the moon.
The rings are so massive that if you were living on the planet you would experience
a solar eclipse that lasts 56 days longs when they pass between you and the star.
Because of all these factors scientists and star-gazers have given the planet the nickname
“Super Saturn”.