back to article Hubble spots ALIEN NAVY world – and it's pelted with GLASS RAIN

NASA's Hubble space telescope has found another deep blue planet in space - but the inhospitable world is not a watery orb like Earth, but a scorching rock pelted with glass rain. Artist’s impression of deep blue planet HD 189733b You blue-ty ... Artist’s impression of deep blue planet HD 189733b, presumably because it's too …

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Hellish is a point of view

    Hellish is a point of view - a Horta might find it quite the vacation spot.

    (since about the only way silicon based life would work would be at very elevated temperatures, since the SiO2 bond is so much stronger than the CO2 bond.)

    1. Kubla Cant
      Alien

      Re: Hellish is a point of view

      Speaking as an alien, the temperature is quite comfortable, but the sideways glass rain is a bit of a bummer.

      1. JeevesMkII

        Re: Hellish is a point of view

        Whatever. It still sounds more inviting than Butlins.

        1. Destroy All Monsters Silver badge
          Alien

          Re: Hellish is a point of view

          Right on, Xzorg! The weather is decidedly awful this spring. Yesterday the sun came and out and my lead pool was just about to boil when the next shower came in. I got my whole ass re-glassed!

  2. Michael H.F. Wilkinson Silver badge
    Coat

    Alternatively, it might be home

    to super-intelligent shades of the colour blue

    Mine is the one with the cassette tapes of the Hitchhiker's Guide in the pocket

    1. perlcat

      Re: Alternatively, it might be home

      Hooray for Hooloovoo.

  3. frank ly

    If it's tidally locked .....

    Then wouldn't any atmospheric conditions settle down to an equilibrium state, with maybe a bit of mixing turbulance around the terminator line? (As you can probably tell, I'm not an expert in exoplanet climatalogy.)

    1. John Smith 19 Gold badge
      Happy

      Re: If it's tidally locked .....

      "Then wouldn't any atmospheric conditions settle down to an equilibrium state, with maybe a bit of mixing turbulance around the terminator line? "

      With a temperature difference of 263c if there's an atmosphere (which it appears there is) there will definitely be winds.

      Not so sure about the "glass rain" Pure silicates have mp even higher but actual window glass melts around 7-800c.

      Like flying through permanent volcanic ash clouds.

      And that's apart from the insurance premium of living there.

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Blue

    Won't be any oranges there then.

    1. Eddy Ito

      Re: Blue

      Well, it was blue 63 years ago and I suppose it's possible it could be orange with green polka dots now but we won't know for another 63 years. Not that I plan to live to hundred and a lot just to find out.

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    A planet with 100% beachfront property with perpetual hurricane weather. A perfect paradise to call Hades.

    1. John Smith 19 Gold badge
      Joke

      "A planet with 100% beachfront property with perpetual hurricane weather. A perfect paradise to call Hades."

      I vote we call it "Florida."

      1. FrankAlphaXII
        Thumb Up

        I agree. And I've lived in Florida for most of my life.

        1. Destroy All Monsters Silver badge
          Alien

          "Microsoft Azure"

          1. hplasm
            Happy

            Re: "Microsoft Azure"

            Hey- it's not That bad!

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    So what would the weather be like on the dark side?

    I guess it would be rather warm from radiated and convected heat on the other side of the planet, but I wonder if it might be livable if you built a dome or something to keep out the silica atmosphere.

  7. Chris G

    An atmosphere?

    I am kinda surprised that there is any atmosphere at all on a body that close to a star, I would have thought that the solar wind alone would have been enough to strip it away never mind the gravitational pull! Plus 7000 mile an hour winds indicate a dense, rapidly convecting atmosphere with no coriolis force to help drive it, although if it is dense tidal forces may help. Dense silicate doesn't make sense as an atmosphere, surely it would have to be fine dust suspended in a gaseous or a plasma atmosphere. To make all these wonderfully descriptive statements about a world 63 light years away sounds a bit much, Sci-fi I like, BS not much.

    Any one who can enlighten me would be welcome!

    1. miknik

      Re: An atmosphere?

      I thought you needed a thin atmosphere to get high speed winds, and once it gets too dense the turbulence slows everything down?

    2. annodomini2

      Re: An atmosphere?

      It's a gas giant with 10% more mass than Jupiter, the article incorrectly describes it as a rock.

  8. mIRCat
    Coat

    I may be stating the obvious..

    "Scientists are still unsure exactly why Jupiter is reddish and Venus doesn't reflect ultraviolet light, but boffins don't know what is absorbing the UV in its atmosphere."

    Has anyone thought to ring them and ask?

    There's a mobile in one of these pockets...

  9. Francis Boyle Silver badge

    "Catchily named HD 189733b"

    But that's how you can be sure that it's home to some terrifying alien abomination.

    1. Roger Stenning
      Alien

      Re: "Catchily named HD 189733b"

      Remember that, when they eventually come to list LV-426 in the charts!

      1. monkeyfish

        Re: "Catchily named HD 189733b"

        Terrifying alien, sure. But it'll be frozen solid by the time it gets down here...

  10. teebie

    How much of this is guesses?

    The temperature map and colour seem perfectly sensible, but the rest seems like speculation

  11. Brian Hall

    Cycles

    If there's a hot wind out from the daylit side there must be a cold wind in, to replace the atmosphere that left.

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