Toggle light / dark theme

Planet that rains rocks and has winds faster than the speed of sound discovered by scientists

Posted in space

Scientists have found a planet where it rains rocks, the winds whip faster than the speed of sound and there is an ocean of magma more than 100km deep.

Researchers have found extreme “lava planets” before. They are worlds so close to their host star that the surface is made of oceans of molten lava.

But the newly-analysed planet known as K2-141b is unusual even among those extreme worlds. Its surface, ocean and atmosphere are all made up of rocks, which fall like rain and melt into its huge seas.

Leave a Reply