Hell Planet Has Snow Even Though the Temperature Is over 2,750

Using the Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers discovered an extraordinarily strange planet outside the solar system, with heavy snowfall even though temperatures were above 2,750 degrees Celsius. This article explains the key facts and context behind kepler-13ab.

Key Facts About Kepler-13ab

From left: Kepler-13Ab alien with very close orbit of its star Kepler-13A, followed by binary star system: Kepler-13C orange dwarf and Kepler-13B star.(Photo: NASA.)

The alien planet is called Kepler-13Ab, a hellish planet that is influenced by the tidal lock with the host star, star Kepler-13A. It means that one side of it is always facing the mother star, which is illuminated regularly with temperatures above 2,750 degrees Celsius. The other half will be immersed in the eternal night and constantly show the rain of titanium oxide (component Main in sunscreen) dense as snow falls through the hot atmosphere.

This is one of the hottest planet ever discovered. These planets are called 'Hot Jupiter' and must have a layer of titanium oxide similar to absorb light and heat. But Kepler-13Ab is different, titanium oxide is not present in the day hemisphere but only appears at the night hemisphere. The cold winds here cause them to condense to form clouds and continuously fall below because gravity on this planet is 6 times higher than Jupiter.

Why Kepler-13ab Matters

Scientists call such a precipitation process 'cold trap' and this is the first time they sing it out on an alien planet.

Compare the size of Kepler-13Ab and the five planets in the Solar System.(Graphics: NASA, ESA, and A. Feild (STScI).)

Kepler-13Ab is 9 times heavier than Jupiter and is not a place suitable for life. But observing and studying the 'hot Jupiter' atmosphere is an experimental step to study the atmosphere of Earth-like rocky planets.

This is a study by a group of scientists at the University of Pennsylvania, USA and published in the Astronomical Journal.