A six-year search that surveyed millions of stars using the microlensing technique concluded that planets around stars are the rule rather than the exception. The average number of planets per star is greater than one. This means that there is likely to be a minimum of 1,500 planets within just 50 light-years of Earth.
1. KELT-9b
The most recent of these planets is the hottest planet so far! This planet has a surface temperature greater than some stars! Can you believe that?! KELT-9b is that planet, and it supposedly has a surface temperature of 4,300°C! Now for a planet to be that hot, there would have to be a few specifics involved. Such as the distance from the planet to the star and the size of the star.
The star known as KELT-9 is 2.5 times more massive than the sun and has a surface temperature of almost 10,000°C. Its planet, KELT-9b, is much closer to its host star than Mercury is to the sun.
So it’s safe to say those specifics are met, the star’s surface temperature is almost double ours, and the planet is WAY closer than mercury. That would do it. Now onto the next planet, still 6 to go.
2. OGLE-2005-BLG-390Lb
The next planet is the complete opposite of the last, it’s the coldest planet so far. The planet, OGLE-2005-BLG-390Lb, is the coldest planet that we know of right now. OGLE-2005-BLG-390Lb is only 50 degrees above absolute zero, -223°C, that’s really darn cold.
The star that this planet orbits is a red dwarf star, a low mass cool star. Now, this planet isn’t even too far from the star, it’s around as far as Jupiter is, but it still manages to be the coldest planet.
3. DENIS-P J082303.1-491201 b
This next planet is the largest planet in existence, that we know of so far. This planet, is 28.5 times the mass of Jupiter. Can you believe that?! That makes it the biggest planet ever listed. That’s amazing! This planet named, DENIS-P J082303.1-491201 b, is so huge it is still debated whether or not it is actually a planet (some think it should be classified as a brown dwarf star).
4. Kepler-37b
That’s right, the next planet is the smallest planet that we know of so far. This planet, is slightly bigger than our moon, that’s pretty darn small for a planet. This planet, dubbed Kepler-37b , is super close to it’s star too, it’s even closer than Mercury is to our sun. That’s crazy, that must be one hot planet too. On to the next planet!
5. PSR B1620-26b
This next one is the oldest planet ever! at 12.7 billion years old PSR B1620-26b claims the title of, Oldest Known Planet. That’s right, 12.7 BILLION years, that’s a ton of time. Think about it this way, our universe, is 13.8 billion years old, this planet is only 1 billion years younger than our universe. That’s crazy.
This planet has TWO host stars rotating around each other and, believe it or not, it’s out lived BOTH of the stars! The two stars are a neutron star and a white dwarf star. Seeing as this planet was formed during the first billion years of the universe, it most likely doesn’t have a bunch of the resources for life to evolve on the planet.
6. V830 Tauri
The exact opposite of number 5, this is the youngest planet known to exist so far. The planetary system V830 Tauri is only 2 million years old. For a planet, that’s extremely young. The host star is twice the radius of our sun but it has the same mass. The planet is most likely still growing, through collisions with other planetary bodies, so it’s not exactly the safest place to be right about now.
7. 55 Cancri e
The Diamond Planet. Officially known as 55 Cancri e, it’s not certain if the planet is made of diamond or not. If it is indeed a rocky planet made out of a carbon-rich material, then it is quite possible that about a third of it is diamond. Forbes took the time to figure out how much that would be worth – $27 nonilion. That’s with 30 zeroes or, in other words, 384 quadrillion times more than the GDP of our entire planet.
Notable Mention:
This planet, has the WORST weather of all known planets. Now this planet, is in our solar system, that’s right. Because we don’t have the technology to see the weather of exo planets we have to look to our system for this information. Now if you are into our solar system you might’ve heard about the giant swirling hurricane photographed by the Juno space craft on Jupiter. While that’s a great contender for the worst weather, Venus has the worst. Venus is the same size as Earth, but, it’s shrouded in clouds of sulfuric acid.
Venus’ atmosphere moves at way higher speeds than the planet does, reaching high speeds of 360km/h. The northern and southern poles each have cyclones above them. The atmosphere is also like 100 times denser than earth and made out of 95% carbon dioxide, resulting in a green-house affect that can raise the temperature to around 462°C.
Wow, those are some extreme planets, I wouldn’t want to live on any of them. Be sure to check back here for more fun facts like this!