The universe is full of strange things. Recently, stars have been discovered that travel through the universe at ultra-high speeds. And in space, clouds were found that stretched for several light years, which smell like raspberries or rum. Space is fraught with many amazing and incredible things.

This article will focus on planets that are not quite ordinary in our understanding. We have more or less studied several planets of our solar system, they all have some common features but also have many differences. And what can we say about planets on other star systems, which can be very different from ours.

These strange and mysterious planets outside the solar system have been discovered within the last decade or so.

Let's take a look at 10 most unusual planets outside the solar system.

#10

Artistic representation of the planet HD 209458 b. View from the surface of another planet.

HD 209458b located at a distance of 153 light years from Earth in constellation Pegasus. It is estimated to be 30% more than Jupiter, and the diameter of its orbit is 1/8 of the diameter of the orbit Mercury, that's less than 10 million kilometers. Naturally, the temperature of this planet is very high: about 1250°C - 1500°C.

A striking feature of this planet is that this gas giant Under the influence high temperature and the enormous pressure cannot hold its atmosphere. Various gases in the atmosphere overcome the gravitational field of the planet, accelerating to tremendous speeds.

All this makes HD 209458b unique planet, which has its own tail, consisting of a stream of planetary gases.

And, despite the fact that the evaporation of the planet is very active, it does not particularly affect the planet itself. It would take about a trillion years for the planet to completely evaporate.

#9

Stone Rain Planet (CoRoT-7 b)

Comparative dimensions planets CoRoT-7 b and Earth

It is a very unusual planet outside the solar system. Its distance from Earth is 489 light years. This is a super-Earth with a radius 1.5 times that of the Earth, but with a mass of about 7 times the mass Earth. This is due to the proximity of this planet to its luminary. CoRoT-7. It completes one revolution around the star in 20 Earth hours.

Most likely, before the planet was gas giant similar to ours Jupiter or Saturn, but due to the proximity to its star, all the light elements of the planet evaporated, while the heavy ones remained. Thus, it consists mainly of stone.

Due to the proximity of the planet to the star, it is tidally locked, i.e. always faces the star on one side. On the illuminated side, the surface temperature of the planet can reach up to 4000°C, while on the other side the temperature is 3500°C.

This temperature creates conditions for the appearance of an atmosphere consisting of molten stone (magma). Just imagine, the illuminated side of the planet is nothing more than a seething ocean of lava, with a burning atmosphere that falls on dark side planets with stone rain.

Human interest in space exploration has no boundaries. Distant worlds attract not only scientists, but also artists. We have collected simulated images in a review of the most interesting exoplanets (planets outside the solar system).

This is how Kepler-10b looks like in the artist's view: the smallest, of known to the world, an exoplanet discovered in January 2011.

Gliese 581 still retains the title of smallest planet, although Kepler-10b took that title in 2011.

The largest exoplanet ever discovered, one of the most incomprehensible. According to scientists - theoretically, its existence is unlikely. The planet TrES-4 is about 1.7 times the size of Jupiter and belongs to the low density planets. The planet is located at a distance of about 1400 light years from Earth.

Epsilon Eridani b is the closest planet to us. It orbits an orange sun-like star only 10.5 light-years from Earth. So close that it can be seen with a telescope.

CoRoT-7b is the first planet outside our solar system to have a rocky surface. The temperature on the planet is 2200 degrees Celsius. This volcanic tyrant scatters rocks (one of its sides is a vast lava ocean) and is possibly the core of a vanished gas giant.

HD 188753 - the planet of "three suns" (unconfirmed), 149 light years away from Earth. This planet has three luminaries, the largest of which is similar in mass to our Sun. It is likely that the planet is very hot, because. it orbits very close to the main star.

OGLE-2005-BLG-390L b is the coldest and most distant planet from us. This planet is 5.5 times heavier than the Earth, and its rocky surface is -220 degrees Celsius. It orbits a red dwarf and is 28,000 light-years from Earth.

Planet WASP-12b is the hottest planet ever discovered (around 2200 degrees Celsius) and has the smallest orbit around its star. A year here is equal to an Earth day. WASP-12b is gaseous planet, about 1.5 times heavier and almost twice the size of Jupiter. The planet is located at a distance of about 870 light years from Earth.

The youngest known exoplanet, the star Coku Tau 4, is less than 1 million years old and lies about 420 light-years from Earth. The planet sits at the center of a dust disk 10 times the diameter of the Earth's orbit around the Sun.

The most light planet HAT-P-1, has the most large radius coupled with the lowest density (its density less density water), among known exoplanets. It is located at a distance of 450 light years from Earth.

The most inclined planet is XO-3b. Most planets rotate in a plane corresponding to the equator of their parent star. But the XO-3b has an absolutely crazy 37 degree deflection.

SWEEPS-10 orbits its parent star at a distance of only 1.2 million kilometers, so close that one year on the planet takes about 10 hours. Belongs to a new class of exoplanets with short periods that make a revolution around the star for a period of no more than 1 day.
The distant exoplanet TrES-2b, depicted by the artist, is blacker than coal. The size of Jupiter, it reflects less than one percent of the light that hits it. Which makes it darker than any planet or moon in our solar system. It is located at a distance of 750 light years from Earth.

The study of extrasolar objects is undoubtedly very interesting and excites the imagination, but it is also curious that the real thing is happening in our solar system.

Our universe is full of amazing and inexplicable things. For example, to date, scientists have discovered hypervelocity stars that do not fall and are not meteorites, giant clouds of dust with the scent of raspberries or smelling of rum. Also, astronomers have discovered many interesting planets outside our solar system.

Osiris or HD 209458 b is an exoplanet near the star HD 209458 in the constellation Pegasus, located at a distance of more than 150 light-years from Earth. HD 209458 b is one of the most studied exoplanets outside the solar system. The radius of Osiris is close to 100,000 kilometers (1.4 times more radius Jupiter), while the mass is only 0.7 of the mass of Jupiter (approximately 1.3 1024 tons). The distance of the planet to the parent star is very small - only six million kilometers, so the period of its revolution around its star is close to 3 days.

Scientists have discovered a storm on the planet. It is assumed that the wind is blowing from carbon monoxide(CO). The wind speed is approximately 2 km/s, or 7 thousand km/h (s possible variations from 5 to 10 thousand km / h). This means that the star quite strongly heats up the exoplanet, located at a distance of only 1/8 of the distance between Mercury and the Sun, and the temperature of its surface facing the star reaches 1000 ° C. The other side, never turning towards the star, is much colder. Big difference temperatures and strong winds.

Astronomers managed to establish that Osiris is a comet planet, that is, a strong stream of gases constantly comes from it, which is blown away from the planet by the radiation of a star. It is predicted that at the current rate of evaporation, it will be completely destroyed in a trillion years. The study of the plume showed that the planet evaporates entirely - both light and heavy elements leave it.

The scientific name of the planet of stone rains is COROT-7 b (previously it was called COROT-Exo-7 b). This mysterious planet located in the constellation Monoceros at a distance of about 489 light years from Earth and is the first stone planet discovered outside the solar system. Scientists suggest that COROT-7 b may be the rocky remnant of a gas giant the size of Saturn, which was "evaporated" by the star to the core.

Scientists have found that on the illuminated side of the planet there is a vast lava ocean, which forms at a temperature of about + 2500-2600 ° C. This is above the melting point of most known minerals. The atmosphere of the planet consists mainly of evaporated rock, and falls on the dark and illuminated side as stone precipitation. The planet is probably always turned to the star on one side.

Conditions on the illuminated and unlit side of the planet are very different. While the illuminated side is a churning ocean in continuous convection, the unlit side is likely covered by a huge layer of ordinary water ice.

The planet Methuselah (PSR 1620-26 b), located in the constellation of Scorpio at a distance of 12,400 light-years from Earth, is one of the oldest exoplanets known today. According to some estimates, its age is about 12.7 billion years. The planet Methuselah has a mass 2.5 times that of Jupiter and revolves around an unusual binary system, both components of which are burnt stars that have long completed their active evolutionary phase: a pulsar (B1620−26 A) and a white dwarf (PSR B1620−26 B). In addition to this, the system itself is located in the densely populated core of the M4 globular star cluster.

Pulsar - neutron star makes 100 revolutions per second around its axis, emitting strictly periodic pulses in the radio range. The mass of his companion is white dwarf, which manifested itself as a periodic violation of the accuracy of the “ticking” of the pulsar, is 3 times smaller than the Sun. The stars are turning around common center masses at a distance of 1 astronomical unit from each other. A full turnover occurs every 6 months.

Most likely, the planet Methuselah is a gas giant without a solid surface, like the Earth. Full circle around double star exoplanet makes in 100 years, being at a distance of about 3.4 billion kilometers from it, which is a little more distance between Uranus and the Sun. Coming into existence very early in the history of the universe, PSR 1620-26 b appears to be nearly devoid of elements such as carbon and oxygen. For this reason, it is very unlikely that it ever had or now has life.

Gliese 581c (Gliese 581c) is an exoplanet in planetary system the stars Gliese 581 are about 20 light-years from our planet. Gliese 581c is the smallest planet ever discovered outside our system, but is 50 percent larger and 5 times more massive than Earth. The period of rotation of the planet around a star located at a distance of about 11 million kilometers is 13 Earth days. As a result, despite the fact that the star Gliese 581 is almost three times smaller than our Sun, in the sky of the planet its native sun looks 20 times larger than our star.

Although the exoplanet is located in the “habitable” zone in terms of the parameters of the orbit, the conditions on it are more similar not to those on Earth, as was previously thought, but to the conditions on Venus. Substituting its known parameters into the computer model of the development of this planet, the experts came to the conclusion that Gliese 581c, with its mass, has a powerful atmosphere with high content methane and carbon dioxide, and the surface temperature reaches +100°C due to greenhouse effect. So that liquid water apparently not there.

Due to its proximity to the star Gliese 581 c is affected by tidal forces and can always be located on one side of it or rotate in resonance, like, for example, Mercury. Due to the fact that the planet is at the very bottom of the light spectrum that we see, the sky of the planet is hellish red.

TrES-2b is the blackest known planet as of 2011. It turned out to be blacker than coal, as well as any planet or satellite in our solar system. Measurements have shown that TrES-2b reflects less than one percent of sunlight falling from the outside, that is, less than even black acrylic paint or carbon black. The researchers explain that this gas giant is devoid of bright reflective clouds (like those found on Jupiter and Saturn) due to very high surface temperatures of over 980°C. It is not surprising, given that the planet and its star are separated by only 4.8 million kilometers.

This planet is located at a distance of about 760 light years from the solar system. It is almost the same size as Jupiter and orbits a sun-like star. TrES-2b is tidally locked so that one side of the planet is always facing the star.

Scientists suggest that the atmosphere of TrES-2b probably contains light-absorbing substances, such as sodium and potassium vapor, or titanium oxide gas. But even they cannot fully explain the intense blackness of the strange world. However, the planet is not entirely pitch black. It is so hot that it produces a faint red light of its own, like a glowing ember.

HD 106906 b - This gas giant, which is 11 times the size of Jupiter, is located in the constellation of the Southern Cross at a distance of about 300 light-years from Earth and appeared approximately 13 million years ago. The planet revolves around its star at a distance of 97 billion kilometers, which is 22 times more space between the Sun and Neptune. This is such a large distance that the light from the parent star reaches HD 106906 b only after 89 hours, while the Earth receives sunlight after 8 minutes.

HD 106906 b is one of the loneliest known planets in the Universe. In addition, according to modern models education space bodies, a planet can't form this far from its star, so scientists speculate that this lonely planet is a failed star.

HAT-P-1 b - extrasolar planet in orbit yellow dwarf ADS 16402 B is located 450 light-years from Earth in the constellation Lizards. It has the largest radius and the lowest density of known exoplanets.

HAT-P-1 b belongs to the hot Jupiter class and has an orbital period of 4.465 days. Its mass is 60% of the mass of Jupiter, and the density is only 290 ± 30 kg / m³, which is more than three times less than the density of water. It is safe to say that HAT-P-1 is the lightest planet. Most likely, this exoplanet is a gas giant, consisting mainly of hydrogen and helium.

A planet with an incredibly huge system of planetary rings

1SWASP J140747.93-394542.6 b or J1407 b for short is a planet that holds about 37 rings near it, each of which is tens of millions of kilometers in diameter. She revolves around a young star solar type J1407, periodically covering the light of the luminary with its "dress" for a long time.

Scientists have not decided whether this planet is a gas giant or a brown dwarf, but it is definitely the only one in its star system and is located at a distance of 400 light years from Earth. The planet's ring system is the first to be discovered outside the solar system and the largest among those known to this moment. Its rings are much larger and heavier than those of Saturn.

According to measurements, the radius of these rings is 90 million kilometers, and total weight- a hundred times more mass Moon. For comparison: the radius of the rings of Saturn is 80 thousand kilometers, and the mass, according to various estimates, ranges from 1/2000 to 1/650 of the mass of the Moon. If Saturn had such rings, then we would see them at night from Earth naked eye and this phenomenon would be much brighter than the full moon.

In addition, there is a distinct gap between the rings, in which, according to scientists, a satellite was formed, the rotation period of which around J1407b is about two years.

Gliese 436 b (Gliese 436 b) is an exoplanet located at a distance of 33 light years from Earth and located in the constellation Leo. It is comparable in size to Neptune - 4 times larger than the Earth and 22 times heavier. The planet revolves around the parent star in 2.64 days.

An amazing feature of Gliese 436 b is that it mainly consists of water, which is in a solid state when high pressure and a surface temperature of 300°C - "burning ice". This is due to the huge gravitational force planet, which not only prevents water molecules from evaporating, but also squeezes them, turning them into ice.

Gliese 436 b has an atmosphere composed primarily of helium. Space Observations of Gliese 436 b Hubble telescope in the ultraviolet range, they made it possible to notice a huge tail of hydrogen trailing behind the planet. The tail length reaches 50 diameters of the parent star Gliese 436.

55 Cancri e (55 Cancri e) is a planet located in the constellation Cancer at a distance of about 40 light years from Earth. By its size, 55 Cancer e is 2 times the Earth, and by mass - 8 times. Because it is 64 times closer to its star than the Earth is to the Sun, its year lasts only 18 hours and its surface heats up to 2000°K.

The composition of the exoplanet is dominated by carbon, as well as its modifications - graphite and diamond. In this regard, scientists suggest that 1/3 of the planet is made up of diamonds. According to preliminary calculations, their total volume exceeds the size of the Earth, and the cost of the bowels of 55 Cancri e can be 26.9 nonillion (30 zeros) dollars. For example, the GDP of all countries on Earth is 74 trillion. (12 zeros) dollars.

Yes, many discoveries sound no more realistic than science fiction and turn all scientific ideas upside down. And we can confidently say that the most unusual planets are still waiting to be discovered and surprise us more than once.

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You and I are very lucky, because the astronauts who are on the International space station continue to surprise us with new photos of our beautiful planet. The chance to observe the Earth from space falls to very few lucky ones. So, we are wholeheartedly grateful to the astronauts, NASA and the European space agency, and, in case one of them is reading this, we once again say our sincere “thank you” to you! After all, before we could observe such views only in films created at Hollywood film studios. But these photos are real. The International Space Station is located over the east coast of Argentina over the Gulf of San Matias. Looking at these photos, you can feel dizzy. Just imagine that you are up there, on board the International Space Station, looking at our planet upside down ... - how are you with the vestibular apparatus? ..
Buenos Aires, Argentina, La Plata La Plata is an estuary, a flooded mouth of a river, formed at the confluence of the Uruguay and Parana rivers on the border of Argentina and Uruguay. The photo resembles a picture with a silvery vein coming from big heart left.
Maldives "We will open for you sunny side life" - this is the slogan of tourists lured by tour operators to the Maldives. Well, from the window of the International Space Station, they really look amazing. Well, order a cocktail with fruit slices and an umbrella in a glass, and go to the hammock to just relax while watching the amazing sunset?
Pacific Ocean, Hawaii Aloha! We are approaching Hawaiian Islands. The big island is visible very clearly. Kilauea is known as "the world's only road volcano". Now he produces 250-650 thousand yards of lava per day. This amount is enough to fill a two-lane highway 32 kilometers long.
Southern Lights, New Zealand Don't you think that the southern lights in this photo resemble a laser show - amazing and mesmerizing?
night view of East Coast Spain. In front of you is the east coast of Spain at night, the Balearic Sea looks like a dark spot. At the top left is the island of Mallorca. Looking at night Barcelona, ​​you remember that for someone one of cherished desires– to go to this city for the Barcelona match against Real Madrid.
Mannam Volcano, Papua New Guinea Mannam, also known as the "Great Volcano", is only 10 km in diameter. Mannam is a stratovolcano formed from changing layers of ash, lava and rock from previous eruptions. It is one of Papua New Guinea's most active active volcanoes, with frequent eruptions causing deaths, including 13 deaths in December 1996 and four more in March 2007. In general, this photo resembles an excellent scenery for some film like “Park Jurassic or King Kong.
Beaver Lake in Arkansas, USA. Beaver Lake is a man-made body of water in the Ozark Mountains, located in northwest Arkansas, where the White River was born. Sometimes artificial reservoirs are wiped off the face of the earth Forest fires, but humanity continues to change the planet with amazing persistence.
The East Coast of the United States and the last ray of light on the horizon. The US East Coast, New York and Long Island are at the bottom left. Would you like to see this panorama with your own eyes? What was the matter? Only $20 million...
Earth and stars. So this is what it looks like Milky Way when the light of night cities does not overshadow it. I would like to quote Dr. McCoy from the world famous "Star Trek": "In this galaxy there is mathematical probability the presence of three million planets similar in type to the Earth. And there are three million million galaxies in the universe like this one. And they probably have at least one version of ourselves.”
Night clouds over Long Beach, California. This is truly an amazing place - Long Beach. The place where you can meet "Queen Mary" and "Aquarium Pacific Ocean". But it is best to go on a trip by sea, where you can watch friendly gray whales. During migration, they swim up to the very shore.
UK and Ireland at night. These regions gave the world the authors of "Romeo and Juliet" (William Shakespeare), "Pride and Prejudice" (Jane Austen), "Dracula" (Bram Stoker) and "Harry Potter" (J.K. Rowling). the British Isles, where they now look forward to royal wedding are simply amazing.
Launch of an automatic interorbital transport vehicle. Arianespace and ESA launched an interorbital vehicle to the International Space Station. I wonder how far they were from each other?
Solar panels of the International Space Station. The ISS solar panels are simply amazing. As the sun dips below the horizon, the last sunlight colors the solar panels in amazing hues.
French Riviera at night. The Cote d'Azur is not only super-expensive and super-popular, but also super-beauty, which is only emphasized by the reflection of the moon in the Mediterranean Sea. Perhaps it the only place, which can compare with southern California.
Bright lights of night Barcelona.
Supermoon. On March 19, the inhabitants of planet Earth could observe the supermoon - a phenomenon during which full moon approached our planet as close as possible. The moon, photographed from the International Space Station, is simply beautiful, and in this photo it looks even a little scary.
Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Cape Cod, which locals simply referred to as the Cape, is an island and cape in eastern Massachusetts. The sun is reflected in the water Atlantic Ocean, turning it into living gold, shading the amazing cape.
Moscow at night Moscow, a city of 11 million people, is not only the capital of Russia, but also the center European culture. The Russians are passionate, proud, sexy and smart, but at the same time refined, intelligent, and with a wonderful sense of humor. And in this photograph, we see the very heart of this superpower. And the heart is just incredibly beautiful.
Sunset over West Africa This shot can be puzzling. We see the glimmer of a dying sunset. However, visible on the horizon bright light. Thanks to a well-taken angle, it seems that there are two light sources. But we only have one sun!
Sicily, Italy Sicily is considered the birthplace of the mafia thanks to the series of films " Godfather". But really it's lovely and absolutely magical island, full of passionate people, music lovers and food, and with desperate courage living in the shadow of the ancient volcano Etna. In this picture it is difficult to make out what exactly is reflected from mediterranean sea- sunlight or moonlight. Either way, the photo is amazing.
Lake Kadisiya on the Euphrates River owes its birth to the Hadith Dam. From space, it looks like a Chinese dragon ready to attack. There are many in Iraq amazing places, which, unfortunately, cannot be reached due to the ongoing military conflict that has been going on for many years. Perhaps someday we will be able to visit there and other historical places.
A heart-shaped atoll east of the Solomon Islands. This atoll is especially loved by astronauts on the International Space Station. This picture they sent to Earth on Valentine's Day. An atoll is a coral island that partially or completely encloses a lagoon. If you look closely, you can understand that in fact this atoll is the top of an old volcano.
San Quentin Glacier, Chile. The San Quentin Glacier is the largest glacier in Chile. Like many glaciers around the world, in the twentieth century, San Quentin began to gradually decrease in size and lose mass. What caused this: natural natural factors or the consequences of human actions? It's hard to say, it's easier to enjoy the beauty of the amazing glacier.
Crete, Greece and Turkey Beautiful clear photo of Hellas (Greece), Turkey and the island of Crete. Crete has a rich mythology associated mainly with the Greek gods, but also with the Minoan civilization. Crete in Greek mythology believed to be the birthplace of the god Zeus. Also here is the famous labyrinth of Knossos.
The Nile River The Nile is the longest river in the world (6650 km), located in North Africa. At the bottom of the picture you can see the place where the Blue Nile merges with the White Nile.
Cyclone Diana off the east coast of Australia In meteorology, a cyclone is an area of ​​closed circular motion that rotates in the same direction as the Earth. We've seen photos of cyclones and hurricanes before, but if you look closely, you can see the planet below in this photo. Look at the center of the "eye".
Desert of Somalia. This amazing red "coral" north of Bakaadwein, west of Calabadhlmag, is the Somali desert. Strange feeling, isn't it? – it seems as if the Earth itself is bleeding. Amazing photo.
Chaco National Park in Paraguay. Chaco is a plain whose area is approximately one million square kilometers. It covers parts of Paraguay, Bolivia, Argentina and Brazil. The clouds at the edges turn the planet below into the scales of a huge lizard. Maybe Godzilla is lurking out there somewhere?
Los Glaciares National Park, Argentina. Lake Argentino is located in the Santa Cruz province of Patagonia. Exactly this big lake in Argentina, whose area is 1466 square kilometers. But, if you look closely, you can see, as it were, the outlines of the body. It seems as if someone fell from the sky and left a dent.
Santiago, Cape Verde. Cape Verde is located in the center of the Atlantic Ocean, 570 km from the coast West Africa, an archipelago of 10 islands. It has the word "green" in its name, but despite this, the area here is a little dry. Santiago is the largest island in the archipelago and seems a bit flat in the southeast. The transcontinental slave trade made the city of Cidade Velha, located here, the second richest city in the Portuguese kingdom. Dead Sea, Israel. The Dead Sea, which is also called the Salt Sea, is, in fact, salt Lake, bordering the Jordan in the east, Israel and West Bank the Jordan River in the west. It is the lowest land area on Earth as its surface and shores are 423 meters below sea level. It is difficult to swim here, the water pushes you out, but you can just lie on the surface of the water.
Rio San Francisco, Brazil. A beautiful and unexpected composition is created by the color and shape of the river and fields. It seems as if this is a beautiful picture, painted by the hand of God himself.
Sunset reflected in the Caspian Sea. The Caspian Sea is the largest enclosed body of water on Earth, with an area of ​​371,000 square kilometers. With this beautiful picture, we conclude today's issue. Take care of the planet - it's amazing and worth it.