The Kepler Space Observatory has discovered many exoplanets orbiting stars that are very different from our Sun.
Because of this, many planets are called Kepler. most of the discovered exoplanets are cold chunks of rock orbiting distant unknown stars.
Sometimes planets are found that are rather strange to interest even the astrophysicist himself. The five most famous are named.
Ice ball
The planet OGLE-2016 BLG-1195Lb was found at a distance of 13 thousand light years from the solar system. The temperature on its surface ranges from -220 ° C to -186 ° C, so the planet is sometimes called an "ice ball". OGLE-2016 BLG-1195Lb was discovered using microlensing, a process used to detect planets as they pass in front of their stars. All ice on the "ice ball" is fresh water.
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Hot stuff
The hottest exoplanet that scientists have ever found. It gradually disappears. Located 650 light-years from Earth, KELT-9b is very close to its star, which means that one side of it is constantly facing the star and the other is not. This gas giant is roughly three times the size of Jupiter and literally glows at 4315 ° C. This is more than the temperature of most stars, and almost reaches the temperature on the surface of the Sun - 5505 ° C.
Evaporating water world
It is a huge "water world" that is three times the size of the Earth. It lies 42 light-years from the solar system. All water on Earth is 0.05% of its mass, and GJ 1214b's water is 10% of the planet's mass. GJ 1214b has oceans that can reach depths of up to 1600 km.
Diamond
It is a large carbon planet about five times the diameter of Earth and about 4,000 light years from the solar system. Due to the tremendous pressure caused by the planet's gravitational forces, the carbon was compressed to form a giant diamond. This exoplanet orbits the millisecond pulsar PSR J1719-1438. Astronomers believe the pulsar was once a massive star that later became a "stellar corpse" after transforming into a supernova.
These rare millisecond pulsars are likely to form in binary systems when a large star engulfs its companion.
The real Tatooine
It is the real equivalent of the planet Tatooine from the Star Wars movie. This is due to the fact that Kepler-16b is one of the few exoplanets orbiting in a binary star system. Kepler-16b has a mass 105 times that of Earth, and its size is 8.5 times our planet.
This exoplanet has an atmosphere of hydrogen, methane and small amounts of helium. It is located approximately 200 light years from the solar system. Kepler-16b completes its orbit around two stars in 627 years.