What are the 15 Weirdest Planets in the Universe?
By: Sraboni Modak
Tags: Universe, Science, Planets, Top15, Physics

The planets of our solar system and their characteristics are well-known. However, in the infinite expanses of the universe there are far stranger celestial bodies orbiting a central star which are also classified as so-called exoplanets due to their size and position.

The Mega Earth

The planet which is 560 light-years away from Earth is actually too large for a classical planet. Since its mass of about 17 Earth masses exceeds this classification. The special thing about Kepler-10c is that, it is mostly made of rock and not as as usual for its size of gas. This is all the more astonishing, since according to the ‘Conventional Theory’ a celestial body of its size should not form at all. Well it does exist and today’s research has introduced the term ‘MEGA EARTH’ for such formations .

The Pink Planet

Here we have a candidate who could be sponsored by Deutsche Telekom. He glows in a deep magenta. Only 57 light-years away from Earth but 4 times as large as Jupiter it is located with its central star in a solar system that is relatively young at just 160 million years old. For us humanoids the habitat on GJ-5O4b is conceivably unfavorable since it is located extremely far outside the habitable zone.

The Super Saturn

This is a real blast. It has a ring system approximately 200 times larger than that of Saturn. Each of the 30 rings known so far has a diameter of several tens of millions of kilometres. In addition it also weighs quite a bit about the sum of 40 gm masses. Due to the sheer mass of its ring system almost no light reaches the planet even on a daily basis. By our standards a solar eclipse would last several weeks.

The Youngstar

11 times the size of Jupiter 300 light-years away from us quite cold and an immense distance from its central star at 650 times the distance between Earth and the Sun. This planet falls out of all previously accepted planetary models. Its process of development is puzzling as such constellations tend to develop as double star systems and certainly not in such a relatively short time of just 13 million years. Also the huge distance to its Sun does not fit to its weight ratio which is 1/100. Similar constellations investigated so far show a ratio of 1/10.

The Waterworld

GJ 1214b only 42 light years away would be an ideal candidate for a classical exoplanet. Its density and enormous water reserves seem to confirm this. However a surface temperature of over 200 degrees Celsius plays against this. A large part of its mass consists of water much more than the earth but not comparable to our water. It could consist of states of matter such as hot ice and superfluid water that are not known on earth.

Ruby and Sapphire Rain

Like its home star which is 50 times larger than our Sun Hat-P-7b itself is quite respectable. 1.5 times larger and almost twice as heavy as Jupiter it is also in a declining orbit but what’s really fascinating is that it has some semblance of weather. Strong winds create an impressive spectacle with Ruby and Sapphire colored clouds which are caused by a high corundum content.

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