7 Creepy worlds across the cosmos

Iron skies

Planet: KELT-9b

Discovered: 2017

Distance from Earth: 615 lightyears

KELT-9b holds the record for being the hottest known gas giant discovered so far. It’s so hot in fact that the term ‘hot Jupiter’ wouldn’t do it justice – instead, it is classed as an ‘ultrahot Jupiter’. It reaches temperatures of over 4,300 degrees Celsius as it orbits its extremely hot, young blue star.

Analysis of KELT-9b’s spectral data revealed that its superheated atmosphere contains iron and titanium atoms. While these elements are common, they are usually present within other molecules. On KELT-9b it’s too hot for clouds to condense, so these metals can exist alone.

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