Deadly Exoplanet

April 29, 2024

1 minute

While my last blog post talked about the search for intelligent alien civilizations on habitable planets, I want to dedicate this blog post to the exact opposite. This blog post is dedicated to one of the weirdest exoplanets discovered, HD 189773b. Do not be confused by it’s bright blue beauty. The planet is anything but habitable. Located 64 light years away, HD 189773b reaches temperatures of 1300 degrees Celsius (2372 degrees Fahrenheit). Further, the planet is home to ridiculously fast winds that travel up to 5400 mph, or seven times the speed of sound! If the winds are not crazy enough, what the winds blow is even stranger.

Visual of HD 189773b

The blue hue of the planet, as depicted in the visual above, is due to the immense amount of silicate in its atmosphere. When this silicate is heated to intense temperatures, like it is in HD 189773b’s atmosphere, it transforms into grains of glass. Therefore, molten glass rains down on HD 189773b, sideways, at over seven times the speed of sound! I don’t know about you but I will NOT be vacationing on HD 189773b any time soon!

4 responses to “Deadly Exoplanet”

Ayden Harris

April 29, 2024 at 7:17 pm

That is a great explanation about what silicate does at high temperatures. It is crazy that despite looking very habitable for humans to live at, the planet is actually one of the most dangerous planets to be.

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1. sabrinaalperin
  
  April 30, 2024 at 3:21 pm
  
  Hi Ayden, thanks for commenting! Yes, it is crazy that despite how “friendly” it looks, it is extremely deadly. That is part of what makes this exoplanet so fascinating!
  
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Garrett

April 29, 2024 at 9:37 pm

HD 189773b shows how limitless and diverse planets in the universe can be. Although from a distance it looks like a more vibrant version of our blue marble it sounds like the chance of life there is slim. Winds fast enough to carry molten glass rain sideways at supersonic speeds is pretty crazy. This exoplanet definitely makes me wonder if even the extremophiles we have been studying have a place there.

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1. sabrinaalperin
  
  April 30, 2024 at 3:23 pm
  
  Hey Garret, thanks for the response. It is so cool that you bring up the topics of extremophiles on these presumably inhospitable planets. While the hot temperature alone would be an incredible feat to survive in, I would be more intrigued in knowing if there are any extremophiles that could survive at such high wind speeds.
  
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