Hubble Discovered A Scorching Planet That's 3x Hotter Than Venus

NASA's found all kinds of strange planets over the years — including this latest one with a surface temperature 3x hotter than Venus. Although it's quickly approaching its 32nd birthday, Hubble keeps on chugging as one of humanity's best tools for exploring the universe. We've used the telescope to determine the universe's age, learn more about our Solar System, and gain valuable information about Earth.

Hubble's also excellent for discovering new exoplanets. Exoplanets are any planets that exist beyond our Solar System. And there are a lot of them! NASA recently confirmed 5,000 exoplanet discoveries. It's a far cry from the 100 billion planets believed to be in the Milky Way galaxy, but it's a considerable step forward in uncovering more and more of the universe we live in.

Related: This Strange Jupiter-Like Planet Is Unlike Any Scientists Have Seen Before

In a blog post on April 6, NASA confirmed tantalizing details about one of the latest exoplanets it's discovered. The photo above is an artist's rendering of exoplanet KELT-20b. The planet's located 456 light-years from Earth and has a gaseous composition similar to Jupiter. What's really fascinating about KELT-20b is its proximity to its host star. KELT-20b orbits its star so closely that the planet's atmosphere is more than 3000°F. Compared to Venus's max temperature of around 900°F, KELT-20b is over 3x hotter.

Along with KELT-20b, NASA also talked about Hubble observations for exoplanet WASP-178b. WASP-178b is even further from Earth at 1,300 light-years away. One side of the planet constantly faces its host star, while the other is always turned away. The 'daytime side' of WASP-178b is cloudless and overwhelmingly filled with silicon monoxide gas. Because of this composition and the planet's unique positioning, "the torrid atmosphere whips around to the nighttime side at super-hurricane speeds exceeding 2,000 miles per hour." Scientists think the dark side of WASP-178b could be cool enough that the silicon monoxide condenses into rock. Even so, the planet is generally hot enough that even rock vaporizes on it.

Although planets like KELT-20b and WASP-178b are completely uninhabitable for humans, researching these planets with Hubble still provides scientists with worthwhile data. As explained by researcher Josh Lothringer, "If we can't figure out what's happening on super-hot Jupiters where we have reliable solid observational data, we're not going to have a chance to figure out what's happening in weaker spectra from observing terrestrial exoplanets." As scientists better understand KELT-20b, WASP-178b, and other planets easily viewable with Hubble, it becomes easier to discover planets that are further away. And on top of that, these are also fascinating discoveries in their own right that further reminds us how odd and strange outer space can be.

Next: Did Venus Once Have Oceans?

Source: NASA

Source: Screenrant