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Imagine a world so hostile to life that it has bubbling lava oceans and it rains vaporized rocks. This is exactly what researchers found in a distant galaxy, and it could shed light on how our own planet was formed.
A team of researchers investigating the hellish exoplanet K2-141b says it’s one of the most “extreme” worlds never discovered. A new study of the planet has found that its surface, oceans and atmosphere are all made up of rocks in various forms. It has magmatic oceans 100 km deep, rocky glaciers and even a vaporized rocky atmosphere.
To top it off, the bizarre world is also blown by winds with speeds of over 1.75 kilometers per second, faster than the speed of sound on Earth.
The planet is about 1.5 times the size of Earth, and it is so close to its star that it is able to perform full orbits several times a day.
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The same surface also faces the star all the time, which means that two-thirds of the planet is constantly lit and experiences temperatures of over 5,400 degrees Fahrenheit. This scorching temperature is enough to vaporize the rocks, giving this part of the planet a thin and inhospitable atmosphere.
“Our discovery probably means that the atmosphere extends a little beyond the shore of the Magma Ocean, which makes it easier to spot with space telescopes.” explained study co-author Nicolas Cowan.
The rest of the planet is shrouded in permanent darkness, and temperatures drop to 328 degrees Fahrenheit.
The researchers created models of what the hellish surface conditions would be like based on three potential main ingredients, all of which are common in the crusts of rocky planets.
“All the rocky planets, including Earth, started out as molten worlds, but then quickly cooled and solidified. The lava planets give us a rare glimpse at this stage of planetary evolution ”, Cowan said.
The research team hopes to further verify the observations gleaned from their models after the James Webb Space Telescope launches in 2021.
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