This extremely intense planet is basically Hell – BGR

• Astronomers have discovered a distant exoplanet so incredibly extreme that life as we know it wouldn’t last a second there.
• Temperatures above 3,000 ° C, lava oceans and supersonic winds terrorize the planet’s surface, while intense heat evaporates the rocks, which then rain down from above.
• The planet is tidal tied to its star and its nighttime temperatures drop below 200 ° C.

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In recent years, thanks to increasingly powerful telescope technology, we have learned a lot about exoplanets, planets that exist outside our solar system. We have discovered freezing planets and others that are superheated gas spheres. Now researchers have discovered one as hostile as you can imagine.

In a new study published in Monthly announcements from the Royal Astronomical SocietyResearchers describe planet K2-141b, an Earth-sized rocky world covered in lava, but that’s not the only reason you won’t want to visit. The planet also has rocks that rain down from above and even winds that move at supersonic speeds. Yes, it is quite gnarled.

As you can imagine, K2-141b is so incredibly hot because it is very close to its host star. This incredibly close relationship also led to extreme conditions on an already uninhabitable surface. This includes precipitation in the form of rocks – yes, rocks – and winds that run around the planet at well over 3,000 miles per hour. It is the absolute culmination of “extreme”.

The planet is tide-bound to its star, which means that the planet, unlike the earth, always points one side towards its star and does not rotate freely. On the star side you can find things like a huge magma ocean, but on the other side? Cold temperatures. In fact, the researchers estimate that temperatures on the dark side of the planet drop to -200 ° C, while the star-shaped side is around 3,000 ° C.

Because the heat is so extreme on the day side of the planet, it melts and evaporates the rocks. This rock therefore follows the same precipitation cycle as water on Earth. It rises into the atmosphere where it condenses and then falls back to Earth. It is literally raining rock material because the planet is so hot.

“All the rocky planets, including Earth, were born as fused worlds, but then quickly cooled and solidified. The lava planets give us a rare insight into this phase of planetary evolution, “said Professor Nicolas Cowan of McGill University’s Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences in a statement.

Studying these distant worlds and understanding their evolution over time can help scientists better predict what other planetary systems will look like, how they will change over time, and what we might expect if we ever attempt to explore these regions of space.