The doomed planet WASP-12b is a hot Jupiter that orbits so close to its parent star, it's being torn apart. It takes this alien world only 1.1 days to completely circle its sun.
The star's scorching heat is slowly stripping away and devouring the planet's atmosphere. In 10 million years, this alien world could be completely consumed. Almost two times the size of our Jupiter, WASP-12b is a sizzling gas giant whose temperature is approximately 4,000 degrees Fahrenheit (2,210 degrees Celsius).
Gravity causes enormous tidal forces which are streching the planet into the shape of an egg. A hulking monster of a star is stealing pieces of its nearby planet, WASP-12b, to assemble itself into the ultimate Frankenstein creation. The extreme gravity is stretching the hot gas giant into the shape of an egg, all the while slowly cannibalizing the planet.
Relatively soon (10 million years; a fleeting moment in space time) this planet will be completely devoured by its hungry star. If you enjoy watching the world fall to pieces, then this planet is for you.
Kepler-36b and its companion planet, Kepler-36c, are far too close to their sun to be in the habitable zone, but they are bizarrely close to each other. On their closest approach, they come within about 1.2 million miles (1.9 million kilometers) of each other.
Despite being in a similar orbital distance from their star, the pair are very different. Kepler-36b, is a super-Earth that orbits a G-type star 1,533 light-years from Earth in 13.9 days. Its mass is about four times greater than Earth's.
Its companion planet, Kepler-36c is Neptune-sized with a mass more than seven times Earth's; it takes 16.2 days to complete one orbit of the star, which is older and hotter than our Sun.
The two planets have repeated close encounters, experiencing a conjunction every 97 days on average. At that time, they are separated by less than five Earth-moon distances.
Such close approaches stir up tremendous gravitational tides that squeeze and stretch both planets, which may promote active volcanism on Kepler-36b.
This far-off blue planet may look like a friendly haven, but don't be deceived! Weather here is deadly. The planet's cobalt blue color comes from a hazy, blow-torched atmosphere containing clouds laced with glass. Howling winds send the storming glass sideways at 5,400 mph (2km/s), whipping all in a sickening spiral.
It's death by a million cuts on this slasher planet! HD 189733 b is a gas giant exoplanet that orbits a K-type star. Its mass is 1.13 Jupiter's, it takes 2.2 days to complete one orbit of its star, and is 0.0313 AU from its star. Its discovery was announced in 2005.
If seen directly, this planet would look like a deep blue dot, reminiscent of Earth's color as seen from space. That is where the comparison ends. On this turbulent alien world, the daytime temperature is nearly 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit, and it possibly rains glass sideways in howling, 4,500-mph winds.
The cobalt blue color comes not from the reflection of a tropical ocean as it does on Earth, but rather a hazy, blow-torched atmosphere containing high clouds laced with silicate particles. Silicates condensing in the heat could form very small drops of glass that scatter blue light more than red light.
The heat of KELT-9b is too much even for molecules to remain intact. Molecules of hydrogen gas are likely ripped apart on the dayside of tidally-locked KELT-9b, unable to re-form until their disjointed atoms flow around to the planet's nightside.
With a dayside temperature of more than 7,800 degrees Fahrenheit (4,600 Kelvin), KELT-9b is a planet that is hotter than most stars. But its star, called KELT-9, is even hotter; a blue A-type star that is likely unraveling the planet through evaporation. KELT-9b is a gas giant 2.8 times more massive than Jupiter, but only half as dense.
Scientists would expect the planet to have a smaller radius, but the extreme radiation from its host star has caused the planet's atmosphere to puff up like a balloon. The planet is also unusual in that it orbits perpendicular to the spin axis of the star. That would be analogous to the planet orbiting perpendicular to the plane of our solar system.
One "year" on this planet is less than two days long. With each orbit, KELT-9 b twice experiences the full range of stellar temperatures, producing what amounts to a peculiar seasonal sequence. The planet experiences “summer” when it swings over each hot pole and “winter” when it passes over the star's cooler midsection. So KELT-9 b experiences two summers and two winters every orbit, with each season about nine hours.