Monday, November 9, 2020

New "Hell" Planet Discovered on the Edges of the Milky Way

Scientists have discovered a planet on the outer edges of our solar system where the oceans are made up of molten lava, it rains rocks and has supersonic winds. They gave it a catchy name: K2-141b. The news of the extreme planet was in many different places, but most intriguingly in...Travel + Leisure, because of course. If you were looking for a place to visit...who wouldn't want to explore a literal hell spot?

K2-141b is an Earth-sized exoplanet orbiting a dwarf-star--much cooler than our sun. K2-141b is so close to its own star, it completes a revolution in about a week. And because of that proximity it is gravitationally locked in place with two-thirds of the planet in perpetual daylight in 5,400F heat. While in the other third it is always night and freezing at -300F. 


K2-141b provides a glimpse of what Earth may have gone through billions of years ago, as all planets start off as molten worlds before rapidly cooling and solidifying. It also provides a window into our planet's own eventual future when the sun expands and consumes it. So yeah, this will happen...



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