Jupiter Threw Out the Solar System's Fifth Giant Planet — But It's Coming Back

Now, if Earth were the size of a nickel, Neptune would be about as big as a baseball. That's impressive, but it's nothing compared to the giant 9th planet that might be hiding out there. Now, our Planet 9's discovery saga might have finally come to an end. Turns out, the problem wasn't where we were looking, but how. And researchers might have just made the biggest solar system discovery in decades. You see, the idea of finding a planet beyond Neptune has been around for years now. I know, back in school, you probably learned that the 9th planet was Pluto. But forget about Pluto. It's been demoted to a less fancy category since 2006. What I'm talking about is THE Planet 9. A hypothetical giant planet that could be our cosmic neighbor. We've never actually seen it, but scientists are pretty sure it's out there somewhere, hiding in the outer solar system. To explain why they think that, we need a sheet of paper. Hey, here's one. We place a coin on it, and suddenly, it starts to move. Unless we're talking about some kind of superpower, there's no way this coin is moving on its own, right? So, you figure someone must be on the other side, holding a magnet and moving it around. You can't see the magnet, but it explains why the coin is moving. That's kind of what's happening with Planet 9. We can't see it, we can't prove it, yet, but its existence could explain the strange movements we see out there in space. For example, the planets in our solar system orbit on a flat plane that's tilted about 6 degrees relative to the Sun. But why 6 degrees? Well, no one really knows for sure. Some scientists think those orbits might be slightly tilted because of the pull of a ninth planet. Its existence could also explain the unusual paths of smaller objects in the distant Kuiper Belt, a region full of icy debris that stretches far beyond Neptune's orbit. Back in 2016, researchers from Caltech published a study about Planet 9. They suggested it could have a mass about 10 times that of Earth and follow a highly elongated path. It's a scientific way of saying it takes forever to make one trip around the Sun. Because of that, it would be located in the outer Solar System, I mean far, far away. It would orbit the Sun about 20-30 times farther out than our most distant planet, Neptune. According to scientists, Planet 9 would take up to 20,000 Earth years to complete just one full orbit around the Sun. Since it's crazy far out there, it's almost impossible to see it. So, as cool as this hypothesis sounds, we've never found solid evidence that Planet 9 actually exists. But we might be pretty close. In May 2025, a team at National Tsing Hua University might have made one of the most exciting Solar System discoveries ever! Alright, so there's a hypothesis that Planet 9 hasn't been discovered yet because we haven't been using the right method. This new study raises an interesting question. What if Planet 9 actually looks brighter in infrared light than it does in visible light? Let me explain. Scientists have been trying to spot Planet 9 by its reflected light. But here's the problem. To spot it in visible wavelengths, sunlight would have to travel all the way out to Planet 9, bounce off its surface, and then travel all the way back to Earth. If a Neptune-sized planet were about 10 times farther away than Neptune, it would look about 10,000 times fainter. But a planet's own thermal radiation, I mean its heat, only has to make a one-way trip. So in infrared light, planet 9 would only be about 100 times fainter. That's why it makes more sense to look for it using space-based infrared telescopes. And that's the idea behind this new study. The team started digging through archives, searching for old infrared sky survey data. And they pulled it from two main sources. First, IRIS. A satellite launched in the 80s that scanned the sky for almost a year. Then, the Japanese satellite Akari, another infrared observatory that operated between 2006 and 2011. So basically, they compared objects that showed up in IRIS database and noticed which ones had moved by the time Akari took its observations. And by doing that, the researchers found something incredible – an object that might just be our long-lost 9th planet. Because if something moves, it could be a planet orbiting the Sun, right? And yeah, they did find some celestial objects showing tiny movements. But before jumping to conclusions, they had to rule out the parallax effect. And that's something really important when we're talking about solar system discoveries. To explain it, I need you to do something. Hold one finger in front of your face. Close one eye, and now switch. Your finger seems to move a tiny bit, right? That's because you're looking at it from a slightly different angle, from one eyeball to the other. The same thing happens when we look out into space from Earth. Since our planet orbits the Sun, our view of very distant objects shifts just a little. That effect is called parallax. My point is, because of this effect, Planet 9 would appear to move across the sky as Earth goes around the Sun. On any given day, it might seem to be in one spot. But six months later, when Earth is on the opposite side of the Sun, it would look like it shifted. Six months after that, it would seem to move back again. Scientists had to account for parallax. Actually, they had to remove its effects. So the team looked at images of the sky taken on the same date every year. Because, on that same date, Earth is always in the same spot in its orbit. That means if Planet 9 is real, it would show up in the same place in those images every year. No fake wiggle from parallax, just its real position. This careful search led them to a single object – a tiny dot in the infrared data. This strange little spot had moved slightly along its orbit around the Sun over the 23 years between Iris and Akari. Wait, could that be it? Did astronomers just confirm a hidden planet? Well, maybe. But don't get too excited. The data we have on its motion over that time is not enough to figure out its full orbit. So, for now, we still can't say for sure if this mysterious object is really Planet 9. It's definitely a strong candidate, though, based on how bright the object is. They have a reddish tint, hence the name. And yep, stars work quite strangely. The closer they are to red, the colder they are, and the closer to blue, the hotter they are. Hey, I don't make the rules. Anyway, because of all this, they aren't very bright, so without a good telescope, you won't see them in the sky. But they aren't just some space losers. They're the most common stars in the universe. They also live much longer than our sun, and thanks to this, they usually have a bunch of different planets orbiting them, including those similar to our Earth. So if one day we decide to find a new home, it may well be near some red dwarf. But here's the catch with TOI-5205b. It's a gas giant. Gas giants like, for example, Jupiter or Saturn, are the behemoths of the universe. These planets are mainly made up of gases like hydrogen and helium. They don't have a solid surface like Earth or Mars, so you can't exactly land on them without getting crushed by the immense pressure. And they're not called giants for nothing. They're absolutely massive. In fact, if you took all the other planets in our solar system and squished them together, they still wouldn't be as big as Jupiter. In other words, they're the gassy wrestlers of the planetary family. So, how is it possible that such a huge planet orbits such a small, weak star? Red dwarfs are usually considered too small to host gas giants. Moreover, it's physically impossible. Or at least, so we thought. But TOI-5205b had other plans and decided to form near a red dwarf anyway. It's like a small pea orbiting around a lemon, which doesn't sound that bad until you remember that Jupiter next to our sun is like a pea next to a basketball. Only really big stars are able to keep such big planets nearby. This had astronomers scratching their heads as it went against everything they thought they knew about planet formation. And while we try to figure out how TOI-5205b managed to break the rules, the planet itself seems pretty content to blaze its path through the cosmos. And it isn't the only one. In recent years, scientists have discovered a bunch of such forbidden planets. So let's check out the other ones. For example, TOI-3757b, a giant planet with the density of a marshmallow. Imagine a giant planet that's so soft and fluffy it's like a marshmallow floating in space. That's right, TOI-3757b is a gas giant that's been dubbed the marshmallow planet because of its incredibly low density. Of course, it's not edible and cute like real marshmallows, but it would still be fun to touch it. This planet was discovered in 2022. It's located in the constellation of Auriga the charioteer, 591 light years from us. Just like the previous one, it's also orbiting around a red dwarf star. And get this, TOI-3757b only takes around three days to complete one orbit. Imagine having a birthday every three days. It's also incredibly close to its star, just some 3.5 million miles away. For comparison, the distance between the Sun and the planet closest to it, Mercury, is about 36 million miles. So TOI-3757b is like right on top of its star. Let's hope this marshmallow planet doesn't get too toasted. Now let's talk about how this planet was discovered. It was spotted by the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, or TESS, a space detective on the hunt for new planets. The transit detection method is when scientists use the star's light to find their planets. When the planet passes through the star, it blocks a tiny portion of the star's light, making it look a little dimmer for a while. Scientists can detect this dip in brightness using special instruments. If the dip happens regularly, they can tell that there's a planet orbiting the star. The size of the dip in brightness tells scientists how big the planet is and how close it is to the star if the dip is really small that means the planet is probably pretty small too and if the dip happens more frequently that means the planet is probably closer to the star and this is how we discovered our marshmallow planet and many other ones overall TOI-3757b is a fascinating planet that's captured our imaginations with its unique properties Now, let's move on to the next mysterious celestial body, TYC 8998-760-1b, on the border of a planet and a star. Phew, that was a mouthful. Let me introduce you to a planet whose name I won't repeat. Well, this baby is also a gas giant. But not just any gas giant. In fact, it's so big, it could make Jupiter feel like a tiny pebble in comparison. I mean, it's 14 times the mass of Jupiter and 3 times as big around. Isn't that impressive? It orbits a very young sun-like star 300 light years away. This star is only 17 million years old, and yes, it's considered a baby among the stars. For comparison, our own sun is about 4.5 billion years old. But the star itself isn't that interesting. The planet, on the other hand, is a bit of a weirdo. You see, planets just can't be that big. With its enormous mass, it should be a star. It's kind of like the Caspian Sea, which is considered the largest lake in the world. Just as the Caspian Sea isn't really a sea or a lake, this planet is the middle child of the universe. Not quite a star, but not exactly a planet either. Some scientists think that it might be a failed star, which is like saying a cake that didn't rise properly. And let's talk about its temperature. You know how you feel like a baked potato when it's 90 degrees Fahrenheit outside? Well, this planet laughs at us. Its estimated surface temperature is a whopping 2,600 degrees Fahrenheit. That's hotter than a jalapeno popper straight out of the fryer. This time, the planet was discovered by the Imaging Detection Method. You see, capturing pictures of exoplanets is no easy feat. The star is always way brighter and ruins the pic. It's like trying to take a selfie with your crush while your annoying little sibling is jumping up and down in front of you. But scientists have a solution. They use some specialized optics and clever observation methods, like coronagraphy. They basically block out the light of a star so that we can see the planet more clearly. Magic, right? And that's how they discovered this not-a-star planet, too. And now it's giving scientists a lot to think about. It makes us question what we know about the formation of planets. Let's hope we'll find out more about it in the future. It's amazing to think about the weird and wacky things that exist in our universe, and these planets definitely fit the bill. Who knows what else is out there waiting to be discovered? Maybe someday we'll find a planet that's even more impossible than the ones we just discussed. Until then, keep your eyes on the skies and your mind open to the infinite possibilities of our universe. This planet, yeah, the one right here, shouldn't exist, but it does. A newly discovered planet rotates around a star that's much smaller and dimmer than our Sun. The planet, however, is enormous. Such a tiny star couldn't create it, so it's like finding an ostrich egg in a chicken coop. A team at Penn State built a special tool called the Habitable Zone Planet Finder. It's an instrument that's supposed to find planets around dim, cool stars. It's connected to a big telescope in Texas. The tool looks at the light from these stars, which is mostly in the near-infrared, Beyond what our eyes can see, this gadget can spot changes in a star's speed caused by a planet. If the star movement slightly changes, that means there must be a gravitational pull nearby. Years ago, this technique helped find the first known exoplanet around a star like our Sun. Today, we've improved this method to make more precise measurements. Our main goal is to find Earth-like planets. They should be rocky and located in habitable zones, areas around stars where liquid water could exist. The Doppler technique isn't that great at finding Earth-like worlds yet, but works well for cool, dim stars. And that's how we discovered the impossible LHS 3154b. Planets usually form in disks made of gas and dust in space. Picture a flat, spinning cloud of tiny particles. These particles come together and stick to each other, creating a flat, rotating disk. Over time, these tiny bits combine to form a solid core. This is the starting point for a planet. Once the core is there, it attracts more dust and even gas like hydrogen and helium. But making a planet this way isn't easy. They need a lot of stuff, mass, and materials. This process is called core accretion. Stars are a huge help in that process. Usually, big stars have more gravity, so they can gather more stuff to form planets. But the star we discovered recently isn't very big. It's 9 times smaller than our sun. A star this small shouldn't have a big enough disk to make a heavy planet. To do that, its disk should have been at least 10 times bigger. But this heavy planet, LHS 3154 b, exists. Now, this mysterious planet is 13 times heavier than our Earth. It's similar in size to Neptune. It's about 50 light-years away from us in the Hercules constellation, which, in space terms, is very close. The planet is also super close to its star, completing one year in almost four days. This discovery is making scientists rethink their ideas about how planets and stars come into existence. There are new theories coming around. For example, a theory called gravitational instability. It says that, instead of the pieces coming together bit by bit, the material in the disk collapses all at once, directly creating a planet. But even with this theory, it's hard to explain how such a heavy planet could form without a really massive disk. It'll take us some time to figure out the truth. This isn't the first planet that makes us doubt our theories. Recently, scientists found another planet called Hala. This planet is orbiting a star called Beidou. And just like the previous one, it shouldn't really exist. It's way too close to its star. Stars change a lot during their lives. Normally, when a star becomes big and prepares to leave this world, it's called the red giant stage. A star like that tends to destroy or push away any nearby planets, creating a huge mess. Hala rotates around a red giant, and it should have been swallowed or destroyed by the expanding star a long time ago. But it's still hanging there. Even though Beidou has already started burning helium and shrunk to a smaller size than expected, Hala isn't bothered in the slightest. Scientists called Hala the Forbidden Planet. This discovery challenges what we thought about how planets survive near aging stars. It raises two theories. One suggests that Beidou was once two stars, a white dwarf and a red giant. Hala orbited them both, and they merged before the red giant fully expanded. This allowed Hala to survive because the extra helium from the white dwarf prevented the red giant from growing too much. The second theory says that Hala formed from the debris created when the two stars merged. In this scenario, Hala would be a very young planet orbiting an elderly star. Astronomers plan to continue studying Hala and look for more planets like that. Another oddball, besides me, is called LTT 9779b. This one scares us too, because it's too shiny. The planet reflects 80% of the light from its star. Regular mirrors reflect from 85 to almost 100% of light, which means that this mysterious planet should look like a rough mirror, with aluminum or silver-like reflections. This is another Neptune-sized planet. It's located 268 light-years from us and was discovered by NASA's TESS spacecraft. It completes a full rotation around its star in just 19 hours. It's so close to its star that it's scorching hot, reaching temperatures over 3,600 degrees Fahrenheit. Normally, planets this close lose their atmosphere and turn into bare rocks. But this one breaks the rules again. Now, this time, we know the secret of its survival. It's because of the planet's shiny metallic clouds, which are made of glass and titanium salt. These clouds rain titanium onto its hot surface. They also reflect a lot of the light, preventing the planet from getting too hot and losing its atmosphere. It's like having a mirror shield. This planet's size also surprised scientists. It's way bigger than Earth. Other planets this close to their stars are either much bigger gas giants or small rocky planets. This planet is a smaller gas giant, and scientists didn't expect it to exist so close to its star. This is the shiniest planet ever found, even shinier than Venus. But despite its cool appearance, it's probably not a friendly place for life because of its extreme temperatures and strange metallic rain. And our final rule-breaker is a planet called WASP-107b. Scientists discovered it using the James Webb Space Telescope. It's located around 208 light-years from us in the Virgo constellation. It's also fast and completes an orbit around its star in just 6 days. This is a super-Neptune exoplanet. It's similar to Jupiter in some ways, including the same size and scorching hot temperatures. But the main difference is that it's much lighter, weaker, and less dense. This is the least dense planet we've discovered so far. After researching some more, we also found that it has a tail. The helium on the planet extends beyond the transit egress. The planet is slowly losing its atmosphere due to extreme ultraviolet radiation from the star. This creates a comet-like tail. So, it looks like a fluffy comet. But that was just the beginning. The planet's low density, or fluffiness, allowed astronomers to study its atmosphere in detail. They found some surprising things, like water vapor and clouds made of fine silicate particles, which are like really fine-grained sand. The planet's host star doesn't emit a lot of high-energy light. But since WASP-107b is so loose, the light can penetrate deep into its atmosphere. This creates sulfur dioxide that smell when you light a match. In other words, it's a fluffy planet that rains sand and smells like matches. The researchers think the sand clouds in the atmosphere form in a similar way to clouds on Earth. They just have droplets of sand instead of water. These sand droplets condense, fall, turn into silicate vapor in hot layers within the planet, and then rise again to form clouds once more. And, once again, this planet couldn't have formed in its current spot. Astronomers say that it likely moved closer to its star from a birth orbit because it was attracted by some heavier neighbor. It also follows a retrograde orbit, meaning it orbits in the opposite direction to its star's rotation. All these discoveries are changing how we understand planets and their atmospheres, giving us new insights into the mysteries of our own solar system. As scientists continue to explore the vast expanse of the Universe, they've made some incredible discoveries that have left them with more questions than 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. 1. New type of exoplanets Red dwarfs make up over 70% 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. 2. Jupiter-size world Imagine 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 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 our 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. 3. 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 TOI 1075 b, 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 star causes its surface to reach scorching temperatures of 1,922 degrees. It's so hot that any form of water would evaporate instantly, and the air would be filled with vaporized rock. But it's not just the heat that's impressive. It's also its size. TOI 1075 b 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! 4. 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, dubbed TOI-2337b. Its orbit will likely send it hurtling straight into the fiery arms of its host star in less than a million years. Well, I won't be around then. 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. But despite the doom and gloom, studying these worlds could give us valuable insights into the evolution of our own solar system. 5. 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 WASP-76b and WASP-121b, are ultra-hot gas giants, called superjupiters, 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 night side, it turns into liquid and falls as iron rain. And these planets held a special surprise for us. Barium is a heavy metal, about 2.5 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. 6. 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 1,000 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 shapeshifter. 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. 7. 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 light, a glow that's similar to the one seen here on Earth during sunset. But 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 light. 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 light. 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. 8. 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 VHS 1259b is its atmosphere. Scientists have discovered that this 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 a discovery that's 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? This planet is as light as that piece of fluff stuck to your sweater. In the scientific world, it's called WASP-193b. But let's call it the Cotton Candy Planet. It's located around 1,200 light-years away from us. Sure thing we'll never see it with our own eyes, but scientists say the cotton candy planet is pretty much Jupiter's bigger, bouncier cousin, 50% more massive. It has an extremely low density combined with other factors, such as high temperatures and the infrared brightness of its host star, that make it look special. May I have a close-up here, please? Thank you. See how fluffy it is? Right now, you understand that it would be impossible to stand on its surface. Anyways, it's not often that you meet something like WASP-193b at a planetary party. Such planets might be fluffy because they're getting cooked by their parent stars, puffing up like a marshmallow that's seen too much campfire action. But the thing is, if you're that close to your star and mostly made of a hydrogen-helium cocktail, you're not gonna keep your puffiness for long. It's like trying to hold onto a balloon during a hurricane. like this fluffy guy here are pretty rare. But there's also WASP-107b, and it looks squishy, too. This one kicks back 200 light-years from us, and it chose the constellation of Virgo as its official residence. From some perspective, you might say that this planet is a copycat of Earth. It has helium, and its atmosphere contains sulfur dioxide. There's some resemblance for sure, but WASP-107b has the density of a marshmallow. It means we can snoop through its atmosphere easier than we could with a heavyweight like Jupiter. Scientists were beyond surprised when they peered through their super space goggles, the James Webb Space Telescope's MIRI cam. They spotted clouds made of the stuff that builds beaches, silicate, or as you might know it, sand. Imagine, sandcastles in the sky! Those sound clouds are way up there in the penthouse suite of WASP-107b's atmosphere, where the thermostat reads a breezy 932 degrees Fahrenheit. Normally, you'd need 1,832 degrees Fahrenheit to cook up this kind of cloud, so scientists are scratching their heads. How did those grainy puffs get all the way up there? Turns out, WASP-107b might be running its own sandy water cycle, but with scorching silicates instead of H2O. Silicate particles get whooshed up from the sizzling lower levels by some sort of cosmic elevator, and then they cool off, party together as clouds, and sprinkle down a silicate drizzle. Nobody's packing sunscreen for this kind of sandstorm, though. Now look at this Kepler planet family located in the Kepler-51 star system. This cosmic three-pack hangs around 2,400 light-years away, looking huge but having the same density as your favorite snack. And it's cotton candy yet again. Scientists have been digging into what these space treats are made of. They now believe these puffball planets are big hydrogen-helium gas balloons with a generous smearing of methane haze. It also turns out these planets might be going through a cosmic downsize. Now, let's talk about a planet called Mascara 5b. Nope, it doesn't look like one of those cosmetic tubes from your mom's drawer. Scientists say it's one of the hottest planets ever discovered. They call it an ultra-hot Jupiter, showing off its impressive size, almost twice as big as our very own Jupiter. The dayside temperature is around a scorching 4,892 degrees Fahrenheit, while the nightside hits 4,172 degrees Fahrenheit. No chance for any sort of life to survive out there. Actually, it's the second hottest nightside temperature ever recorded. To put it in perspective, the temperature of molten lava sits between 1,292 degrees Fahrenheit and 2,282 degrees Fahrenheit. So, the planet is a whole lot hotter than this scorching liquid rock. Its temperatures even surpass the melting point of most metals, which is around 3,632 degrees Fahrenheit. Scientists mention that the insane heat on this planet is comparable to the exhaust of a rocket engine. Back in 2005, one famous star called… wait, is that a name or a phone number? Whatever. So, turns out this star has a hot sister, and they have very similar names. This hot sister has B at the end. Well, this place looks like something from a sci-fi movie as it rocks a mesmerizing blue marble vibe, according to NASA. Such an appearance results from an atmosphere packed with hazy clouds laced with glass. The rain on this planet is glass-filled precipitation that likes to fall sideways thanks to fierce winds blowing at a speed of 5,400 miles per hour. And yeah, it's the hot sister for a reason. Scientists have measured the daytime temperatures in this nightmarish world. It's around 1,700 degrees Fahrenheit. So when it rains on this planet, it's more like molten glass pouring down instead of your typical waterworks. You may not know it, but space is swarming with wasps. I'm talking about planets called WASP. Meet WASP-76b. This sizzling hot Jupiter-like planet is so out of this world, it rains iron at night there. The daytime side is no less of a fiery nightmare. The temperature there is about 4,300 degrees Fahrenheit. WASP-76b may be slightly smaller than Jupiter, but don't underestimate its grandeur. This fireball is located 640 light-years away from Earth, and its terrifying climate is the result of one seriously extreme orbit. You see, these gas giants are fittingly known as hot Jupiters. They like to keep it hot, so they orbit way too close to their scorching host stars. In this case, WASP-76b is nearly ten times closer to its star than Mercury is to our sun. That's way too close for comfort, leaving this rebellious planet tidally locked to the star. while one side basks in eternal light. The other is trapped in perpetual darkness. 55 Cancri E is a total gem. It's the raddest super-Earth ever spotted. Scientists initially believed it was packed with so much carbon that its insides were blinged out with diamonds, thanks to insane pressure and sizzling temperatures of 4,892 degrees Fahrenheit. But researchers put a dent in the diamond hype, showing there was actually less carbon than we had originally thought. Well, diamonds aren't actually that rare and expensive after all. They're just well marketed. The last destination for today is GJ 1214 b, located 40 light-years away from Earth. This planet is like a supersized Earth, almost three times bigger in diameter and a whopping seven times heavier. It orbits around its red dwarf star faster than you can finish a pizza, finishing a complete loop every 38 hours. But it's not just the planet's size or orbit that's out of this world. It's pretty hot out there, with mind-melting 450 degrees Fahrenheit. But the coolest thing is that this planet is practically drowning in water. The sizzling temperatures and crazy high pressures on GJ1214b create some super cool materials like hot ice and superfluid water. Superfluidity is something that happens in liquid helium when it's almost as cold as it can get. On Earth, water totally missed the memo on being superfluid, because it needs ridiculously low temperatures and off-the-chart pressures to pull off that trick. Still, there's not much use in superfluid water. Even if you try it, you'll just get dehydrated. Okay, here you are in the middle of the ocean. It's endless, but you can't see it, because there's a thick fog all around you. Dense clouds hide the huge but dim sun. Is it day or night? You don't know. There's only a gray haze around you. You're alone. Even if you try to swim down, after several hours, you still won't be able to see the bottom of the ocean. And that's a typical water planet for you. I know, sounded kind of dark, but it's not that bad. These water worlds are more interesting than they may seem, so let's take a look at them. The ocean planet is a planet that consists, as you might have guessed, mainly of water, ice, and maybe some rocks. Think of the Earth's oceans. Its horrifying depths, the Mariana Trench, and all that. And now, can you guess how much space all the water on Earth takes up? 0.025%, exactly. Now, just try to imagine a world of 40-60% water. If you dive in there, the depth can exceed 60 miles. Compared to that, the 6-mile depth of our Mariana Trench sounds like nothing. And yeah, the pressure there will be enormous. It can reach up to 20,000 Earth atmospheres. Very crushing. Now, it may sound scary, but it still would be great to find out more about these planets. Fortunately, according to scientist calculations, there may be a lot of such planets in our galaxy alone. Well, you don't have to go far. You can find these water guys even in our solar system. Not planets, of course, but moons. Jupiter has Ganymede and Callisto, and Saturn has Titan and Enceladus. The ocean can reach up to 30% of the mass of these moons, although it isn't clear whether these oceans are covered with a thick crust of ice. But we've discovered quite a few full-fledged ocean planets. This is because the conditions in which these planets may exist are very specific. For example, this planet should be somewhere 6 to 8 times larger than the Earth. If it's smaller, it'll have a rocky surface. But if it's bigger, it'll turn into a gas giant. At the same time, it must be in the habitable zone of its star. A little further, and the planet immediately turns into an icy giant or a cold super-Earth. So, yeah, these guys are very picky. We first started exploring these planets back in the 1970s. However, since then, we've found only a couple of them. But they're still very interesting. The first planet is Gliese 1214 b. It was the very first ocean planet that we discovered. Initially, the scientists noticed only a small dim dot. This dot turned out to be the red dwarf star Gliese 1214, An unremarkable, completely ordinary star that's 5 times smaller than our Sun and 300 times dimmer. Scientists wouldn't worry about it at all. But back in 2009, they noticed that this star had one single planet. And this planet turned out to be quite strange. This super-Earth was 2.5 times bigger than our Earth and 6.5 times heavier. But at the same time, it had a very, very small density and about the same gravity as our planet. In other words, there were almost no rocks and metals on it. But it wasn't a gas giant either. So, there was only one option left. It was covered in water and ice. And that's how we discovered the first ocean planet. Well, actually, we can only assume that it consists of water. That's what the mathematical calculations say. In reality, this planet is quite confusing. It's difficult to explore, and so far, scientists haven't been able to find anything there. No hydrogen, no helium, no water, nada. That's because the outer layer of the atmosphere of this planet is very dense, and it perfectly hides its composition. But even so, it's probably a water world. Gliese 1214 b is very close to its star. It's only 0.014 astronomical units away, which is less than the distance between the Moon and us. The year there lasts about 36 hours, And the temperatures, to put it mildly, are just wild. Scientists suggest that the average temperature there can reach 250 to 535 degrees Fahrenheit. Ooh, that's hot. Remember the creepy description from the beginning? Well, actually, spending time on Gliese 1214b would be a little different. More like swimming in a steam boiler. Because of such gigantic temperatures, the ocean on the surface will be constantly in a state close to boiling without actually reaching it. So, imagine that you're descending to the surface of this planet, flying through clouds of steam. And then, you suddenly find yourself in the water. What? But when did it happen? Well, that's because the boundary between steam and water on Gliese 1214b will be very blurred. Of course, you won't be able to swim to the bottom of this ocean. But most likely, this bottom is covered with a very thick layer of so-called hot ice. It's like regular ice, but it doesn't really care about the laws of physics, so it just doesn't melt even at gigantic temperatures. And the thickness of this ice can reach as much as 3,000 miles. So that's it for the creepy, Gliese 1214 b. And not an Airbnb in sight. Now, although we can't 100% guarantee that it's a water world, we still have another candidate for this position. A newly discovered planet called TOI 1452 b. This planet, located in the Dragon constellation, is almost 100 light-years away from us. It was discovered using the TESS telescope by a group of researchers from the University of Montreal. This planet also belongs to the class of super-Earths. It's 7 times larger than our planet, but 48 times heavier. Again, all this is at a very low density. Because of this, scientists have suggested that almost the entire planet consists of a giant ocean. Here, we were a little luckier. This world won't be just a giant puddle and some thick ice. On this planet, there's probably a rocky surface deep under the water, just like in a typical ocean. Don't get too excited, though. This ocean will certainly be very different from what we're used to. TOI 1452 b also orbits a small red dwarf. And not even one, but two at once! At the same time, if the previous planet was close to its Sun, then this one, on the contrary, is very, very far away. It's 2.5 times farther from its stars than Pluto is from the Sun. And it moves at great speed. A year there lasts only 11 days. But we still don't know many things about this planet. We'll probably get some new information when scientists observe it from the James Webb Telescope. Well, that's it. Wait, did you expect something else? Alright, alright, I know the question that bothers you the most. Can there be life? Well, this is a difficult question. We all know that water means life. And besides, these planets are in the habitable zones of their stars. So, potentially, yes, there might be life. Not some full-fledged civilizations, of course, but bacteria, fish, and some creepy giant monsters. I mean, you know, why not? However, this is very unlikely. Water alone isn't enough to create life, even though it's very important. There should also be some micro-elements and some minerals. And unfortunately, for most water planets, the composition will only consist of water and very thick ice. There won't be any minerals there. But don't give up. There's still some probability. First of all, there are meteorites and comets. They can bring the necessary minerals to the planet. The more often they crash into it, the higher the probability that they'll bring something like this into the ocean and thus create life. Secondly, TOI-1452 b actually has these minerals. Yes, we don't know how deep the rocky bottom is located there. But if it exists, then surely something could have originated there. Let's hope that new research with powerful telescopes will allow us to find out the truth. And who knows? Maybe one day we'll be able to visit such a planet ourselves.