2023's Top 8 New Planets: What We Have Learned So Far

as scientists continue to explore the vast expanse of the universe they've made some incredible discoveries that have left them with more questions and answers from a scorching super Earth to a football-shaped world the exoplanet discoveries of 2022 are truly out of this world so hold on tight the future of exoplanet discoveries is looking brighter than ever number one new type of exoplanets red dwarfs make up over 70 percent of all stars in space so in September of 2022 scientists decided to take a closer look at the small worlds orbiting them what they found was amazing new type of exoplanets that were made of half Rock and half water either in liquid or ice form the researchers suggested that these planets likely arose from Icy material and were born far away from their Stars past the ice line where surface temperatures are freezing but they later migrated closer in to where the astronomers detected them this discovery could have huge implications in the search for life in the cosmos though these planets are loaded with water they might not be covered in oceans who knows maybe one of them will be the next Earth 2.0 number two Jupiter size world a planet so massive and mysterious it's like a hidden Jupiter in our galaxy well we just discovered one of those orbiting a star just 379 light years away just we've named it the toi 2180b and it's got everyone talking why well for starters this planet takes a whopping 261 days to orbit its star which is much longer than most distant gas giants we've come across so far but that's not all the temperature on this world is surprisingly mild averaging at a balmy 170 degrees Fahrenheit for a comparison the temperature on Jupiter and Saturn is around minus 280 degrees it's like a bridge between the giant exoplanets we've found and are Jupiter but the question remains how did this planet get to be so different scientists are still trying to figure that out let's hope that we get some answers soon number three the Hulk Planet this world is a place where the surface is covered in molten magma and the year lasts just half a day welcome to toy 1075b an exoplanet that's been dubbed the planet Hulk by scientists located 200 light years away this super Earth is one of the most massive ever discovered its proximity to its parent stock causes its surface to reach scorching temperatures of 1922 degrees it's so hot that any form of water would evaporate instantly and the air would be filled with vaporized rocks but it's not just the heat that's impressive it's also its size toy 1075b is nearly 10 times the mass of Earth making it one of the most massive super Earths ever discovered but the mystery doesn't stop there the planet's orbit takes just 14 and a half hours making it one of the shortest orbital periods ever recorded for a planet of its size what an exciting addition to our catalog number four three doomed planets astronomers made a shocking discovery of three planets that are circling in a dangerous dance next to the slowly fading Stars just a decade ago scientists never even imagined such planets could exist these gas giant planets similar in size to Jupiter orbit way too close to their slowly fading Stars they're basically Walking On The Edge take one of them for example dub toi 2337b its orbit will likely send it hurtling straight into the fiery arms of its hostar in less than a million years well I won't be around that as these Stars enter their final days they're pulling in nearby planets like a black hole altering their orbits and potentially causing catastrophic collisions and as these planets get closer to their Stars their atmospheres heat up and swell leading to some mind-boggling differences in density 5. despite the Doom and Gloom studying these worlds could give us valuable insight into the evolution of our own solar system number five planet with a barium's atmosphere these are two hot blazing planets each with an atmosphere made of the heaviest element ever found in an exoplanet barium these planets known as waaf's 76b and was 121b our Ultra hot gas giants called super Jupiters that orbit incredibly close to their Stars these planets are basically like giant balls of fire with one side facing the star cooking at temperatures hot enough to vaporize iron and other metals but as the hot iron vapor is blown into the planet's cooler Nightside it turns into liquid and Falls as iron rain and these planets held a special surprise for us barium is a heavy metal about two and a half times as heavy as iron and yet scientists were able to detect it in the upper layers of these planets atmospheres this is truly a mystery and a puzzle we're still trying to solve imagine landing on a planet like this and looking at this rain of iron and the heavy barium in its Skies that would be awesomely horrifying number six the football planet get ready to have your mind blown space enthusiasts because we've just discovered the ultimate football shaped planet and it's unlike anything we've ever seen before meet wasp 103b the ultra hot exoplanet that's more than a thousand light years away from Earth this gas giant is so close to its parent star that its shape is being stretched by the intense gravitational forces but this isn't just a fun Shape Shifter it's also a valuable scientific discovery by studying the planet's passes across its star we were able to measure its deformation for the first time ever it's like taking a snapshot of a planet in motion and it's giving us insights into the extreme conditions that these planets can endure this is truly a great discovery number seven a zodiacal light are you ready for a cosmic ghost story scientists and high school students in China have uncovered a spooky phenomenon on three distant exoplanets it's called zodiacal life a glow that's similar to the one seen here on Earth during sunset this isn't just some Eerie light show it could hold clues about the makeup of these potentially habitable worlds imagine watching the sunset from a dark spot on earth and instead of Darkness a triangle of light appears that's zodiacal line it's caused by sunlight reflecting off dust particles that fill the solar system the remains of asteroids and comets a team of researchers analyzed 47 potential habitable exoplanets named kepler-69c Kepler 1229b and Kepler 395c all super Earths had signs of this life this discovery is more than just a spooky phenomenon it could reveal information about the presence of asteroids and comets in these exoplanet systems which could be difficult to detect otherwise so that's pretty neat number eight a planet with silicate clouds introducing VHS 1259b not a home video recording system but a strange and exotic World shrouded in mystery and wonder a place where the clouds are made of sand and the sky is forever red this isn't the stuff of Science Fiction but a real life discovery made by the Brilliant Minds at Nasa this is a brown dwarf exoplanet that's making waves in the astronomical Community it's way too massive for a planet nearly 20 times the size of Jupiter but it's not quite a star it's something in between a cosmic Enigma that defies definition but what's really crazy about BHS 1256b is its atmosphere scientists have discovered that the strange world is cloaked in thick clouds of silicate grains similar to sand it's the first time this kind of cloud has ever been detected on an exoplanet and it's discovery that sure to change the way we think about the universe and the possibilities of life beyond our world and there you have it folks the year 2022 was filled with Incredible discoveries and groundbreaking findings in the world of exoplanets but this is just the beginning as scientists and researchers continue to explore the vast expanse of space we can only imagine what other wonders await us so let's keep looking who knows what Secrets the stars hold for us next have you ever wondered why all planets are perfectly round and what if these celestial bodies decided to break the rules and change their shape would we end up with square planets triangular moons or maybe even Intergalactic shapes we can't even imagine well let's find out so how do planets form in the first place the universe is filled with swirling clouds of dust and gas these clouds called molecular clouds consist of various elements and compounds such as hydrogen helium carbon oxygen and so on they're like a cosmic kitchen filled with the ingredients needed to cook up some brand new planets the first step in the recipe for planetary formation is called the accretion theory let's say that something happens that causes gravitational instability like a supernova goes off nearby or something this pushes the gas and dust in the cloud and causes them to come together because of gravity these particles start falling toward a central point they become more tightly packed together like when you squeeze a ball in your hand and eventually they're squeezed so hard that the cloud starts to flatten into a disc shape kind of like when you mix flour and water to make pizza dough this disc is called a protoplanetary disc it's also spinning because the Cloud's particles had some rotation to begin with now imagine these tiny dust particles and gas molecules dancing around in the disk sometimes they bump into each other and when they do they stick together like Velcro these little clumps of dust and gas are called planetesimals they're the building blocks of planets and as the planetesimals continue to collide and merge they grew larger and larger forming protoplanets the protoplanets were getting serious about their size and their gravity became stronger some of them got so massive that they became the grand masters of their Cosmic neighborhoods the planets we know and love each planet had its own unique recipe of gases rocks and sometimes even water but why do the planets look like spheres well it's all because of gravity let's go back to our protoplanets imagine you're squeezing a balloon with your hands the air inside of the balloon pushes back creating pressure something similar happens with planets gravity squeezes its material inward pulling in towards the center and since gravity acts equally in all directions it pulls material from all sides toward the center of mass resulting in a sphere-like shape and that material pushes back with pressure resisting the force of gravity in the end they both find a sweet spot where they balance each other out it's called hydrostatic equilibrium a fancy term that means everything inside a planet is in Balance but that's not all another thing that makes the planet spherical is their rotation think about a ball of Play-Doh or something like that imagine you spin it rapidly the material starts to push outward making the Play-Doh bulge at the equator and flatten at the poles the same thing happens to planets as they spin on their axes the combination of gravity and rotation pushes the material outward making the planet bulge at the equator they low key want to become discs again however gravity doesn't want any lumpy planets it wants them to be nice and round so it keeps pulling on the material trying to make everything as compact as possible eventually gravity wins and the planet settles into a spherical shape let's take some examples from our planetary playlist Jupiter the giant of the solar system loves to show off its ablateness it's been so fast that it becomes noticeably squished at the poles and chubby in the middle it's like a spinning top with a cute belly Saturn the ringed Wonder also joins the oblate party it spins around with its beautiful rings and its ablateness is even more pronounced than Jupiter's these examples show how rotation can give planets a unique shape they go from being perfectly round to having a delightful bulge around the middle it's like Cosmic Pottery where the spinning motion creates a playful and distinct shape so now you know why the planets are round but what's more interesting is what if they weren't what if they were let's say cubicle or even triangular well let's see a cube shaped or a triangle-shaped planet would have its mass spread out in a completely different way than a sphere and you know what that means gravity would be All Shook Up Too on a spherical Planet gravity pulls everything towards the center because the mass is evenly distributed around that Center but when we introduce a cube shaped or triangle-shaped Planet things get interesting if you're standing at the center of one of those faces you'd feel the strongest pull of gravity that's because the faces are the closest to the center of gravity and as you venture away from the center and start walking towards the edges gravity starts playing tricks on you you would feel the struggle against the Steep angled gravity walking on those edges would feel just like climbing a mountain or walking on a super steep slope all because gravity wants you right in the middle of the face and nowhere else now imagine the terrain along the edges and corners it's a Barren Rocky and dry landscape why well all the water would pull in at the center of each face leaving the edges high and dry and the air quality well it's either non-existent or so thin that it can't support life not the coziest place to set up camp that's for sure and don't forget your warm clothes lunch and hiking boots you'll need them because of the crazy climate the type of climate you'll encounter on our Cube or triangle-shaped Earth depends on how it spins if it rotates at its Corners each side would enjoy a mild temperate climate however if it rotates on an axis through two of its faces things get intense picture a roller coaster version of our current climate some faces would be polar wonderlands icy and chilly the top and bottom faces for the cube and the bottom face for the triangle meanwhile the other sides would be completely different in a cube they would be scorching hot with an equatorial climate that would make you break a sweat instead of sunlight gently curving along the surface it would directly beam onto these faces talk about feeling the Heat and on a triangular Planet the sunlight would strike the faces at an angle this angled sunlight would create fascinating temperature variations across the planet imagine this as you move from the base of the triangle towards the tip the temperatures would gradually decrease the base where the sunlight hits most directly would be the hottest region just like the equatorial climate we're familiar with on our spherical Earth but as you venture towards the tip the angle of sunlight would be less direct leading to cooler temperatures but the base is still super cold and dark since the sunlight doesn't directly reach it so the triangle would be absolutely crazy in terms of temperature changes in climate zones by the way you know that cozy blanket of air we call the atmosphere well on our angular Earth things would get a little topsy-turvy gravity would be pulling stronger from the center of each face the result the atmosphere would go through some crazy changes picture this at the center of each face where gravity is strongest the atmosphere would gather and thicken it would be like a bustling City full of air molecules but as you venture towards the edges things would start to thin out the atmosphere would become scarce and very thin so breathing along the edges would be quite a challenge and the edges would be a tough neighborhood for life to thrive moreover a thinner atmosphere means less protection from the sun's radiation and solar winds so corners and edges would be extremely dangerous for humans of course this is all just a playful exploration of what could be our Earth loves its spherical shape and that's a good thing but there's no harm in imagining wild and wonderful possibilities so keep your imagination soaring and continue to Marvel at the marvels of our amazing planet however it may be shaped check out that buff dude over there with the orange skin he's been chilling on Mars for a hot minute which is why he looks like he used the wrong shade of self tan see all those carotenoids and carrots sweet potatoes bell peppers tomatoes and pumpkins are protecting him from those UV rays the more he eats the more orange he gets and as for his sturdiness it's all about that Martian gravity the gravity here makes us perceive our weight differently and if you want to be a boss on Mars You Gotta Eat heavily like if a person weighs 150 pounds on Earth it feels like no more than 55 pounds on Mars so overeating can help shorten that gravity to weight Gap Mercury is a whole different thing it's hotter than Georgia asphalt during the day but colder than Elsa's castle at night you got to be made of metal with a high melting point to be able to survive here but for us regular humans we'd be toast literally even though Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun Venus is still the hottest One Life on Venus more like life on the sun's evil twin the temperature here typically hovers around 870 degrees Fahrenheit on average surviving at the boiling point of water or in the extreme heat of Venus is a challenge for most Earthly species only a select few can endure boiling hot temperatures others rush to Starbucks to grab an iced latte with the first beams of the spring Sun so no human being can really evolve enough to survive on Venus the only creatures that could Thrive there are probably tardigrades and those weirdos who put hot sauce on everything you wonder what tardigrades are well those are minuscule and adorable caterpillar-like creatures that possess remarkable durability they can endure boiling water the depths of a sea trench and The Frigid lightless void of space recently tardigrades were included in a scientific study aboard a spacecraft that unfortunately crashed on the moon scientists speculate that the tardigrades may have survived the impact hey would you like to turn into this creature and live on Venus we're done with terrestrial planets let's move on to gas giants now look at this dude from Saturn he's got flippers and not arms he's got small holes with no external ear flaps instead of regular ears most of this gas giant is colder than your ex's heart as the temperature is about minus 220 F you can't walk on it but you can turn into a snowball or an Ice Crystal if you're feeling frisky things are quite similar on Jupiter so probably turning into a seal and chilling there is not that bad of an idea at least you can live there rent free and don't even get me started on Neptune and Uranus these guys are ice giants with no solid surface so those sharp clawed dudes you see in movies yeah they don't exist plus these two ain't exactly hospitable to life I'll stick to my sweet potatoes on Mars thank you very much

Channel: Bright Side Mystery

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Id: 7i4PGrln67U

Length: 20min 9sec (1209 seconds)

Published: Sun Aug 13 2023