The sun is considered the galactic engine of life on earth. We owe it to the distance between our blue home planet and the central host star that we are supplied with the energy necessary for survival every day.
So while we have every reason to consider ourselves extremely lucky because of this galactic neighborhood, there is a planet in the universe that is not only bound to a fixed star but three of these bright celestial bodies.
What this exciting discovery is about in detail and which extraordinary planets we have already been able to identify, you can find out today.
HD 131399:
When a team of international researchers took a closer look at the rotational properties of planet HD 131399, it didn't take long for the renowned experts to get suspicious.
The observations made with the aid of the very large telescope in Chile left no doubt that the celestial body, which is 320 light-years away from us, orbits the main star of its system at a remarkably large distance.
The problem until now, scientists had assumed that such wide orbits were exceedingly unstable. They had expected that the other two stars, which are also in the galactic neighborhood of HD 131399, would have to throw the planet out of its orbit.
How the celestial body nevertheless manages to remain in a fixed rotation within this system is still a mystery for experts. What is certain is that the planet has about four times the mass of Jupiter and orbits the main star that's twice the mass of our home sun. As a reminder, this galactic distance is only about 90 million miles on average.
To complete a full orbit around the main star, the two remaining stars form a double system that orbits the main star at a distance 300 times the distance between the earth and the sun, taking approximately 3,600 years.
Long the planet HD 131399 will manage to defy the extreme conditions of this system is uncertain. Since the celestial body has a very young astronomical age of 16 million years, it's quite conceivable that it will not be able to maintain this unusual rotational orbit in the long run.
KELT-9B:
However, the celestial object in the constellation Centaurus is not the only planet that amazes us with its unusual characteristics when it comes to the question of extraordinary celestial bodies.
It must not go unmentioned that what discovers this exoplanet red hot is its scorching hot surface temperatures. KELT 9B is considered the warmest planet we have discovered so far in detail.
The thermometer on the surface side facing the host star climbs to more than 770 degrees Fahrenheit. This makes the planet as hot as some stars of the spectral class. This is made possible by the small distance between KELT 9b and its star, KELT 9B.
The two objects are so close that the exoplanet needs just 1.48 days to completely orbit its host star. This is compounded by the fact that the star KELT 9B with a surface temperature of about 18,000 degrees Fahrenheit.
It's like things that such an extreme constellation is accompanied by drastic effects. For example, the planet's atmosphere is heated to such an extent that no molecules such as Carbon dioxide or Hydrogen can exist in it. Instead, we find only single ionized atoms there.
They are in a kind of chaotic vortex which ultimately also leads to the sulfur-like loss of the ionized atmospheric gases. Many researchers assume that this process will continue until KELT 9B one day disappears completely.
HD 189733 B:
The different planets in the universe are accompanied by the most diverse weather phenomena. It is already well known which thunderous forms the galactic weather can take. In truth, the planet HD 189733 B proves to be more precise.
The planet is the first exoplanet ever on which the existence of methane gas can be proven. Since the giant planet in the constellation Vulpecula orbits its mother star at a quite small distance, only two days pass before the celestial body has rotated completely around its star.
This is why the average surface temperatures on the planet are more than 1800 degrees Fahrenheit. Therefore, in the summer of 2013, some Nasa employees succeeded in determining the actual color of the exoplanet with the help of the Hubble space telescope. Therefore, we now know that the celestial object presents itself in a deep blue coloration.
According to this, the planet looks confusingly similar to our earth at first glance. While our earthly homeland earned its nickname the blue planet for its luxuriant water events, it's in the case of the exoplanet completely different circumstances.
Which causes the bluish play of colors. In fact, the atmosphere of the celestial body is filled with tiny glass particles that are whipped back and forth by thunderous storms. As mentioned, these violent winds reach incredible speeds of up to 4,350 miles per hour.
This unique weather spectacle is created by the silicate in the atmosphere, which begins to transform into glass grains at temperatures of 2,370 degrees Fahrenheit.
WASP-12B:
WASP-12B is a darker version of WASP-12B. A detailed investigation with the Hubble space telescope supplied us with the realization that the exoplanet discovered for the first time in the year 2008 belongs to the darkest objects we've yet found in the universe.
Previously, scientists had already noticed the unusually high carbon concentration on the planet. Furthermore, it's conceivable that the planet, which is classified as a so-called "hot Jupiter," consists of graphite or diamond at its core as a result of the tidal forces acting on it.
The thermometer on the planet's surface climbs up to 4039 degrees Fahrenheit. The extremely short orbital period of the celestial body is 1.1 days, and it's assumed that WASP-12B will be absorbed by its parent star in about 10 million years.
TRES-2:
TRES-2, like WASP-12B, is one of the universe's dimmest known objects. Jupiter, which is 750 light-years from Earth, could be added to the star charts in 2006.
The reflectivity of the celestial body is so low that it reflects only one percent of the incident light into space, making the exoplanet reflect even less light than coal, which still reflects up to five of the incident light rays.
The celestial object has a mass of more than 400 earth masses and orbits its yellow dwarf in only 2.5 days.
K2-18B:
This is primarily due to the celestial body having twice the radius and eight times the mass of our planet, as well as being located in the habitable zone of its native system.
While it is the first known exoplanet that meets the two basic requirements for the hypothetical emergence of extraterrestrial life forms, the excitement in the ranks of experts was understandably high at first, but current investigations paint a much more pessimistic picture.
A few researchers assume that K2-18B in its natural state is more like a hostile mini-Neptune than a flourishing haven of life.
Do other research results suggest the conclusion that this squadron of celestial bodies may Could there be rock planets covered by hot, super-compressed oceans in which the water is in a state of aggregation between liquid and gaseous? We're interested in your opinion.
What are your thoughts and which of the featured planets particularly captivated you? Write us your opinions, suggestions, and feedback in the comments.