These 5 Planets Do Not Want To Welcome Humans Onto Their Surfaces Any Time Soon
Space is infinite. Think about that for a second. What we know of our universe could essentially amount to a single drop of water in the ocean. Now think about all those other drops out there. It's entirely probable that there's another planet out there that's as welcoming to life as Earth. But we know for certain that there are innumerable other worlds out there that are completely, radically inhospitable to life. This list is about the latter.
GJ 1214b is a water world, but it's nothing like the Kevin Costner movie. The average temperature on the planet is about 395 degrees, so it's basically a "steam world." Supposedly, water could exist on the planet in all five matter states. Not a great planet to live on if you're human, but it's a fitting planet if you're a steamed lobster.
Aside from its catchy name, PSR J1719-1438 b is fascinating because it's the densest planet we know of and it's made mostly of carbon. It's basically a huge, extra-dense diamond. It also has an insanely strong magnetic field and emits X-rays and gamma rays. You couldn't even come close to the planet without dying.
WASP-12b is so close to its star that it orbits its star once every 1.1 earth days. The gravity from the star also gives WASP-12b more of an ovular shape than a spherical one. Like, PSR J1719-1438 b, this planet is carbon-rich and thus could hypothetically be full of diamonds. WASP-12b is also ridiculously hot, estimated to have an average temperature of 4,085 degrees fahrenheit.Â
Like so many other inhospitable exoplanets, 51 Pegasi b is a little toasty, reaching temperatures of 1800 degrees fahrenheit. It's so hot, in fact, that it rains molten iron. Now that's a really terrible rainy day. It's also known for its extreme winds. This may explain the nickname of the planet, Bellerophon, which is the namesake of the Greek mythological figure who tamed Pegasus, the flying horse.Â
We're not exactly sure yet if this planet exists, but if it does, it would be much larger than Jupiter and completely covered by a cloud of carbon monoxide. This means the planet would essentially be one giant poisonous death trap to humans. How can we make these predictions if we don't even know if the planet exists? Well, we know of the presence of the star Beta Pictoris, and we know of a field of comets surrounding the assumed planet's area. Thus, we can safely guess there's a planet.