Looks exactly like Earth from a distance, but hell inside: The story of a terrifying planet in the universe
In my last post, I talked about the vastness of the universe and the horror of a light-year distance. Since writing that post, a strange thought has been swirling in my head. Well, let's assume that by some magic, we have built a spacecraft that can travel faster than light. Then we cross the boundaries of our familiar solar system and travel towards an unknown constellation. But where will we go?
We are always looking for a planet that looks as beautiful, blue and peaceful as our Earth. But if you delve a little into astronomy, you will understand that this universe is much more strange and terrifying than it is vast. Today, I will tell you about a planet that is bound to make your hair stand on end.
HD 189733 b: Image Source
The planet is called 'HD 189733 b'. It is located about 64 light-years from our Earth in the constellation 'Vulpecula'.
When NASA's Hubble Space Telescope first revealed the color profile or true color of this planet, scientists were fascinated. Because in the pitch darkness of space, this planet looks like a dark blue marble. From a distance, you might think, "Hey! This is another peaceful blue planet like our Earth. Maybe there's a huge Pacific Ocean there too."
But believe me, even though it looks like heaven from a distance, it's actually a complete hell! If you somehow land on this planet wearing a spacesuit, the most terrible death on earth is waiting for you before you can blink.
Do you know why? Because the blue color that the planet appears to be from a distance is not actually due to any water or sea. This blue color is created due to silicate particles in the planet's atmosphere. The planet is located so close to its star that the surface temperature is about 1,000 degrees Celsius (1,832 degrees Fahrenheit), and at this unimaginable heat, those silicate particles melt and take the form of liquid glass.
Deadly Atmosphere of HD 189733 b: Image Source
Do you think this is the end? The real surprise is yet to come, When there is a storm on our Earth, what is the speed of the wind? 200 or 250 kilometers per hour? And on the planet HD 189733 b, the wind speed is about 8,700 kilometers per hour, that is, seven times faster than the speed of sound!
Just imagine - it is raining boiling liquid glass at a temperature of a thousand degrees, and the pieces of glass are flying horizontally like arrows at seven times the speed of sound, in such an environment it is not possible for any human to survive even for a fraction of a second.
When we see these strange forms of the universe, we fall into a daze. We see so many terrifying alien planets in Hollywood science fiction movies, but if it were not for these planets, we would never have understood how much more exciting and rough the real universe is than we imagine.
Compared to them, how peaceful, how magical our Earth is, in this infinite emptiness of space, in the crowd of such terrifying giant planets, our little blue planet is literally a place of absolute refuge.
WASP-76b: Image Source
There are many other strange planets like HD 189733 b scattered around the galaxy. For example, there is another planet called WASP-76b, where molten liquid iron rains from the sky at night. I will write about that planet in another post.
Until then, you can tell us what you think about this strange universe in the comments.
(Note: I have collected the scientific information and data of the planet from NASA's exoplanet archive and various articles on space science and have written it in my own way. The rest of the writing is my own thoughts on the universe.)
Note: Originally written in Bengali and translated into English using Google Translate.
