Lava Planet Discovered

 

Lava planet is said to be rare in discovery but believed to be a billion of them out there on the vast universe or space not yet to be discovered or telescope. It is a planet that has lava and magma.

Recently, a new lava planet was found and name “K2-141b”. The lava planet is located 210 light years away from planet Earth and it is an exoplanet. It orbits extremely closely to its sun or star. It completes a revolution in just six to seven hours. It has a molten surface or a molten rock surface or an ocean of molten surface and according to the news almost half of the planet is a molten magma. It has a violent weather condition and raining rocks down on its molten surface and a howling wind.

“"Almost half of the planet is molten magma," said lead study author Tue Giang Nguyen, a doctoral student at York University in Toronto. "The atmosphere created by vaporized rocks spreads around the planet. “That vaporized silicon dioxide, or quartz, forms clouds and rains or snows down onto the molten surface below, he said.” (CNN)

“Exoplanet K2-141b has winds that clock in at about 3,100 miles per hour (5,000 kilometers per hour), and its magma ocean is estimated to have a depth of about 86 miles (140 kilometers), according to Nguyen's calculations.”(CNN)

“The extraordinary winds dominate one side of the planet but are totally absent on the other. The bright side of K2-141b is scorching, with temperatures likely around 5,400 degrees Fahrenheit, or 3,000 degrees Celsius. That hot side has an atmosphere made of silicon dioxide, more commonly known as quartz. Because K2-141b orbits so closely in the brilliant glare of its star, about two-thirds of the world is illuminated at any given time. One-third is dark, making for a frigid planet with temperatures of minus 392 degrees Fahrenheit, or minus 200 degrees Celsius. That two-third light/one-third darkness split is unusual compared to planets in our solar system, such as Earth and Jupiter, where half of the planet would be lit by the sun at any given time.”(CNN)

“Lava planets are quite rare, Cowan [ study coauthor Nicolas Cowan, an associate professor in the departments of physics and Earth and planetary sciences at McGill University in Montreal] noted -- just one in 1,000 stars would be able to host one. But given the enormity of the cosmos, there could be billions of lava worlds out there.”(CNN)

The main point: Lava planet K2-141b was discovered which have an ocean molten surface

image from CNN website