12 Out-of-this-World Fun Facts About Exoplanets You Need to Know

1. Neptune's Steamy Sauna: GJ 436b

If Neptune had a sauna, GJ 436b would be it: This steamy exoplanet, 30 light years away, boasts a scorching temperature of up to 300° Celsius and an atmosphere dense with an exotic form of water. But don't pack your swimsuit just yet – the intense pressure in its interior transforms the water into a unique state of ice that Earthlings have never seen before, making it crucial to studying Earth-like exoplanets, but sadly, uninhabitable.
Source => newscientist.com

2. Cloudy Hide-and-Seek: Kepler 7b

Talk about extreme weather forecast: Kepler 7b is an exoplanet playing a cosmic game of hide-and-seek with its clouds, where one side is always buried under a big fluffy blanket, while the other side is constantly sunbathing! This lopsided cloud cover makes the planet cooler than its peers and has puzzled scientists into mapping the first-ever exoplanetary weather pattern.
Source => news.mit.edu

Did you know that Mars is home to Valles Marineris, a canyon system 7 km deep and 4000 km long - almost the length of the United States! Discover more about this mind-blowing Martian wonder.

=> Fun Facts about Mars

3. Extreme Summer Vacation: Kepler 78b

If you think summers are unbearable here on Earth, imagine vacationing on a planet where sunscreen is futile and your flip-flops would melt right off your feet: Kepler 78b, an exoplanet that orbits incredibly close to its star, boasts temperatures reaching up to 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit, with surface features such as oceans of lava, and stands as the smallest exoplanet where direct light detection has been accomplished.
Source => latimes.com

4. Wicked Witch's Glass Rain Paradise: HD 189733b

Imagine if the Wicked Witch of the West vacationed on an exoplanet where the rain was molten glass instead of water – she'd never run out of material for her self-portraits in the mirror: HD 189733b, apart from blocking 3% of its parent star's light during a photometric transit, boasts a deep blue atmosphere that contains carbon dioxide and experiences a fascinating phenomenon of molten glass rain.
Source => en.wikipedia.org

5. Gravity Overload: HAT-P-2b

Feeling a little heavy today? Try taking a trip to HAT-P-2b to make your weight woes feel like a walk on the Sun: With a surface gravity 24 times that of Earth, this exoplanet's density is twice that of our home planet and nearly equal to the Sun itself!
Source => en.wikipedia.org

6. Star Wars-inspired Twin Suns: Kepler-16b

In a galaxy far, far away – or at least, far enough to avoid the ceaseless sibling bickering of Luke and Leia – lies an exoplanet with a unique family portrait of two blazing suns: Kepler-16b boasts a twin star system reminiscent of Star Wars' Tatooine, with the only difference being its chilling temperature range of -70C to -100C, making it more of a "Hoth-apalooza" than a cozy, habitable oasis.
Source => theguardian.com

7. Hotter than Hot: Kepler-70b

If you think your last sunburn was bad, wait till you hear about this sweltering destination: Kepler-70b holds the title of hottest known exoplanet, sporting a sizzling surface temperature of several thousand Kelvin – even hotter than the surface of the Sun itself!
Source => en.wikipedia.org

8. The Darkest Exoplanet: TrES-2b

If coal and black acrylic paint went on a cosmic blind date, they would find their match made in heaven with the enigmatic TrES-2b: This exoplanet is crowned the darkest known, reflecting less than 1% of any light that hits it; its absence of reflective clouds is still a cosmic mystery, though its high temperature from being cozied up to its parent star might just be the heat behind this cool demeanor.
Source => en.wikipedia.org

9. Tell-all Star Performer: HR 8799c

Hold onto your telescopes, folks: the interstellar world of peeping toms just got an upgrade! Direct your prying gaze towards the HR 8799 system: a stage with four exoplanets in starring roles, including a diva named HR 8799c, whose tell-all revelation of water and carbon monoxide traces in the atmosphere spilled all its celestial secrets to curious Earthling astronomers.
Source => space.com

10. Sunscreen Special: 55 Cancri e

If 55 Cancri e were a sunscreen brand, it would be half-off SPF 4000 scorchingly-good deals: This rocky exoplanet, located in the habitable-zone clearance rack, has been yanked closer to its star by some interstellar tug-of-war, causing its surface temperature to skyrocket to 4,000 degrees Fahrenheit – and giving astronomers a rare opportunity to study the formation and evolution of such heated situations.
Source => forbes.com

11. Split Personality Exoplanet: CoRoT-1b

If it's true that opposites attract, then CoRoT-1b is the ultimate interstellar split personality: on one side, it's a fiery, face-melting hot mesh, and on the other, it's a tad cooler, just enough to cook your favorite barbeque – planetary style!: This exoplanet is tidally locked to its star, with sizzling temperatures of 1,898°C (3,448°F) on its day side, while keeping things slightly cooler at a toasty 1,430°C (2,606°F) on the opposite side.
Source => en.wikipedia.org

12. Helium Party in Space: GJ 1214b

Hold onto your tinfoil hats and grab your moon boots, citizens of Earth: astronomers have tentatively detected a whiff of helium in the atmosphere of the exoplanet GJ 1214 b. As sci-fi as it sounds, this groundbreaking discovery not only brings a whole new meaning to the term "helium party," but it also brings us closer to understanding the atmospheric composition of super-Earths — those elusive rocky planets that boast more mass than our little blue dot but less than Neptune's gassy girth.
Source => en.wikipedia.org