Out of Sight
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GJ 1214b
GJ 1214b is a water-world 40 light-years away from Earth. While this exoplanet’s total mass is thought to be ~25% rock & ~75% water, not all of this water is in our familiar liquid form.
Being so close to its star, with surface temperatures around 200-500˚F, the outer layers are thought to be composed of mainly… steam. Inner layers would contain more condensed forms of water, including liquid, plasma, and high-pressured ice.It is unclear how these layers break down, if they do at all. It is possible that there are no defining lines between liquid and vapor layers that exist. Liquid water may gradually become thinner and thinner until it is a gas. It is also possible that the liquid layer might boil and bubble with incredible force spewing water and gas in massive ejections similar to our own solar flares.
Luckily, this exoplanet is one of few that can have its atmosphere studied. It will occupy scientists for years, and there is much more to learn.
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Kepler 10b
Kepler 10b is the first 100% confirmed terrestrial planet discovered around a sun-like star. While there are some other candidates discovered before, their compositions are still up for debate.
Slightly larger than earth, Kepler 10b is much closer to its star than we are… about 44 times closer. Tidally-locked to its sun, Kepler 10 faces only one side to the blazing sun. So close and so hot, Kepler 10b is likely to have a central ocean with surrounding seas & rivers of lava and volcanoes galore. The solid land itself is believed to be heavy in iron, which may give clues that this planet is a ‘Chthonian Planet’ which is only the remaining core of a dying gas giant that has evaporated away.
Because it is locked so close to its star, and has very little atmosphere to regulate temperature. Some suspect that the ‘dark side’ of this planet is freezing cold, some have dubbed it the planet of ‘Fire & Ice’. -
WASP12b
WASP12b is in a class of exoplanets called “Hot Jupiters” – gas giants that orbit so close to their parent star. While gas giants need cold temperatures to form, it is believed these planets slowly migrated closer and closer in orbit. The star’s gravity pulls on the planet, into a slight egg shape, and eats away at the planet’s gaseous atmosphere, pulling it into a disc around the sun.
In about 10 million years, WASP12b will be complete consumed by its star.
More recently, WASP12b was found to be a carbon-rich planet. It is very likely the core of this planet is a giant rock made of diamond & graphite. It is also believed to pour down sapphire rain.
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PSR B1257+12 B “Lazarus”
The first ever world discovered beyond our solar system, this type of planet was never thought to actually exist.
The planet is a smaller rocky planet, about 4 times that of our Earth and orbits its parent star PSR B1257+12. One thing though, its star is a horribly deadly pulsar/neutron star. The remnant of a super nova, this star ended its first life in a massive explosion, and now pulses radiation on this and the other planets in the system.Pulsar planets were never thought to exist because nobody could believe they would survive the super nova explosion of their star. There are two possibilities… one is that these planets are cores of gas giants, and while the majority of these giants are now gone, the cores remained. The other (more likely) theory is that these planets formed out of a cloud of dust & debris left over from the super nova. Today, this planet is constantly scarred and pummeled by radiation, causing beautiful but deadly auroras covering the planet from pole to pole.
Either way, this planet was born from death. I call him Lazarus.
