When research is done about what is out there in the dark outside of the surface of our earth, there are various mysteries that unfold yet a thousand continue to make us feel clueless yet equally as curious.
We have various planets out there at the extremes which are extraordinarily bright when compared to the ones closer to the sun. We have discovered that some of these planets have lava oceans on its surface. It is because of this that we expect the planets to be covered in charcoal and hence to be dark and dimed out. But, we still are able to see these planets as extremely bright balls that are not dimmed out at all and this has confused the people.
Image courtesy – Google
For various planets, a bright light is reflected due to their host stars who emit light. This property has been termed as albedo and is commonly seen. Scientific research was done at MIT to conclude where the light was coming from, making the planet so bright and that it was due to lava oceans or cooled glass which is lava which gets solidified rapidly.
When the tests were done in the lab using melting rocks to find out the brightness produced by the lava and comparing it to the brightness that was produced on the various planets, results that came back confirmed that the amount of lava or cooled glass present on the planets could not give out the extraordinary brightness that was seen coming from the planets.
The extreme planets have very short orbital periods. It is this short period that allows circling of the planets around its hosts within a matter of just 10 days. However, it was also noticed that the light reflected from the host stars were responsible for only 40-50% of light coming out from the planet.
In the lava experiment too, it was discovered that it did not matter what the combination of materials was on the surface of the planet, it could not give out enough brightness. It still isn’t clear what is making them so bright, but research is being continued.
When research is done about what is out there in the dark outside of the surface of our earth, there are various mysteries that unfold yet a thousand continue to make us feel clueless yet equally as curious.
We have various planets out there at the extremes which are extraordinarily bright when compared to the ones closer to the sun. We have discovered that some of these planets have lava oceans on its surface. It is because of this that we expect the planets to be covered in charcoal and hence to be dark and dimed out. But, we still are able to see these planets as extremely bright balls that are not dimmed out at all and this has confused the people.
Image courtesy – Google
For various planets, a bright light is reflected due to their host stars who emit light. This property has been termed as albedo and is commonly seen. Scientific research was done at MIT to conclude where the light was coming from, making the planet so bright and that it was due to lava oceans or cooled glass which is lava which gets solidified rapidly.
When the tests were done in the lab using melting rocks to find out the brightness produced by the lava and comparing it to the brightness that was produced on the various planets, results that came back confirmed that the amount of lava or cooled glass present on the planets could not give out the extraordinary brightness that was seen coming from the planets.
The extreme planets have very short orbital periods. It is this short period that allows circling of the planets around its hosts within a matter of just 10 days. However, it was also noticed that the light reflected from the host stars were responsible for only 40-50% of light coming out from the planet.
In the lava experiment too, it was discovered that it did not matter what the combination of materials was on the surface of the planet, it could not give out enough brightness. It still isn’t clear what is making them so bright, but research is being continued.
